Culpable Homicide
by Bell26
Summary: Just a slightly different take on how our girls meet with a smattering of other Rookie Blue characters in between. Gail and Holly end game, because EVERYONE knows these two are made for each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Culpable Homicide**

Hello my lovelies, so I've been bitten by the Gail and Holly bug. I totally love these two together and I couldn't get them out of my head so I decided to write a little somethin' somethin'. Even though I'm supposed to be working on my thesis instead... As we all know, all the Rookie blue characters belong to Tassie Cameron Et al and I'm just borrowing them. so without further ado, please enjoy.

**Chapter 1**

I

Detective Gail Peck picked her way through the dense undergrowth following the sound of distant voices floating toward her on the muggy night air. She thanked the gods of foresight that she had put on a pair of boots this morning as she squelched her way across layers of dead wet leaves underfoot. The powerful beam from her small torch swept across the forest floor as she scanned what little she could see of her surroundings, the light casting eerie shadows behind the brush. Gail and the outdoors were not at all friends and this trek was starting to get to her. She absently scratched at a non existent itch on her left arm as she pushed past the last branch and emerged into an open space surrounding the lake that lay still and steaming ahead of her.

That was totally the last time she took a short cut through the woods. Those arseholes who'd parked the access road closed were extremely dead when she got hold of them. Not to mention the rookie who suggested the "short-cut". Just a few meters he said, easy as pie he said. She would have to think of a good way to torture him for that later. She turned toward the light and voices she'd heard earlier and made her way along the pebble beach toward the group of uniformed officers standing around idly.

She picked Chris Diaz out of the group and bee lined toward him. "What have we got?" she asked when she was easily within ear shot.

He turned, giving her an easy smile. "This way detective," he said gesturing with his left had, he knew better than to touch Gail without explicit permission. "The body is lying about 50 meters down the shore line. Elderly male, no I.D so far but he's all wrapped up in a tarp and we knew not to disturb any of the evidence until forensics has had a look."

They made their way along the shore, coming to a stop just short of a bundle with a pair of feet protruding from one end of a bright blue tarp and wispy grey hair from the other. Gail turned to survey the scene. She noted multiple foot prints in the mud, 3 distinctly different sets, possible a fourth as well. She shone her torch up the dirt track, two sets of tyre prints, made by the same vehicle it looked like, one coming, one going. She turned her attention back to the body and ran the light over it, big feet, size 10 or 11 at least. She skirted the edge of the lake to round the body, taking great care not to interfere with the scene.

Her torch light trailing over the ligatures around his ankles, following the rope to a heavy looking set of cinderblocks resting not far from his feet. "Well, well," she said, flicking her torch toward the blocks, "looks like our perp may have been interrupted during the body dump." She knelt near the edge of the tarp, snapping on a pair of latex free gloves she carried in her back pocket, no reason to increase the probability of breaking out into hives today. A trip through the forest was enough of a risk. Gently lifting the edge of the material she peaked underneath, her beam illuminating a carpet of some kind. She sighed, dropping the tarp back down to the body, "He's totally wrapped up underneath there, going to have to wait till he's back at the lab before we can get a closer look, we can't afford to compromise any trace evidence by trying to unwrap him now."

"I should Hope so Detective," came a voice that Gail didn't recognise. She shifted her eyes up toward the newcomer, scanning her from her bright green wellington boots up. Sensible foot wear, she came prepared. Stone washed blue jeans, a red jumper covered by a well worn brown leather jacket and a cream coloured scarf. The outfit was rounded off by a pair of latex gloves and what looked like a rather large lunchbox. "You better not have been messing with my evidence detective." The woman said with a lop sided grin, tilting her head to the right and nudging her glasses back up her nose with her free hand.

Gail narrowed her eyes as she stood from her crouch. She'd managed to put her right knee into the water and could now feel the cold seeping through her jeans. Great, just great. First a trek through the forest, now wet jeans and an irritating forensics person on top of it all. "You better be here to get my body back to the lab lunchbox because that is the only way I'm going to let that sass slide," Gail said as she carefully made her way back to where Chris was still standing watching the scene between the two women unfold. "And don't worry, all our precious evidence is 100% undisturbed, at least by me anyway, I can't vouch for the rest of these losers."

Gail ripped off her gloves, turning them inside out in the process and folding them around each other before shoving them into her jacket pocket. When she turned back to the unknown woman she was still standing there watching her with an amused look on her face and a raised eyebrow. "Well go on then, get on with all your nerdy stuff so we can all skedaddle back to where there is air conditioning and there is coffee," Gail said as she turned back to Chris. "Daiz," she barked loudly, making him jump, "make sure we have photos of all the shoe and tire prints around here and get casts of them too. Once you've sorted all of that out I want you to go back to the lab with lunchbox here and call me when she's done being all nerdy and has something useful for me." With that said Gail started making her way back toward the other officers in search of the civilian who had found the body.

II

Chris turned toward the tall brunette as she made her way to the body. She'd set her bag down on a nearby rock and was instructing two members from her forensic team as to where to put up the spot lights they'd carried down from the van. "A little to the left Sammy," she said as she knelt down almost exactly where Gail had earlier. Camera in hand, she started taking strategic snap shots of the body.

Chris inched closer to watch her work. He looked on in silence for several minutes before clearing his throat, "She's a good detective you know, she didn't mess with your scene." For some reason he couldn't explain he still felt the need to stick up for Gail, even though they were no longer dating. They were friends now though, and that's what friends did right?

The brunette looked up from her camera and smiled at the officer looming over her, his thumbs tucked into his utility belt. "I know," she said, "I was just teasing her. I'm Holly Stewart by the way, the new forensic pathologist."

"Chris Diaz, fifteen division, With detective Peck." He replied, pointing backwards over his shoulder with his thumb toward where Gail was standing with her back to them talking to the witness. "You really shouldn't tease her you know, its like baiting a wild animal."

Holly looked up at Chris's baby face and chuckled, when she looked at him all she saw was a big puppy dog, it was kind of cute actually. Her eyes slid from his face and locked onto the blonde detective listening intently to the man at her side as he gestured wildly with his hands, obviously very into his story. The grin snuck back onto Holly's face as she watched Gail, "I think I'll take my chances."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Chris shrugged as he went in search of one of the crime scene investigators to help him collect the evidence Gail had requested.

Holly did a thorough examination of the scene, photographing everything she thought prudent to the investigation before calling the techs back to help her move the body, tarp and all into a body bag and onto a stretcher. The initial exam would have to wait for their return to the morgue where they were in controlled surroundings and at no risk of losing any evidence when they unwrapped the body. Her eyes dragged across the officers still milling about the scene, looking for the distinctive platinum blonde hair of certain detective, but Gail was nowhere to be found. Shaking her head, she began the walk back to the van wondering why the detective fascinated her so.

III

Gail was already sipping on her third cup of coffee for the morning by the time she spotted Diaz and McNally strolling into the squad room. Catching Diaz's eye she jerked her head towards her desk, beckoning them over. "What have you got for me Diaz," she said as the officers approached her.

Chris pulled out his note pad and started paging through to find the page he needed, "O.K so there were four sets of foot prints at the scene, one pair belonging to the boots of the gentleman who found the body, a Mr John St Clair and the second known set to officer Mullins, the first officer on scene. The other two sets belonging to our un subs. Both sets are small, a size 5 pair of women's Nike studio trainer cross training shoe and a size 4 flat soled boot of some kind. Unfortunately there is no tread pattern so the techs couldn't narrow it down any further, but if we find the boot they can match the imprint apparently."

"Moving on to the tyre tracks," McNally replied, reading from her own note book. "The two sets were from the same vehicle, one set coming toward the scene and the second lot away. The print was left by a firestone destination A/T, commonly found on Ford's F150 model of truck."

Gail nodded as she took in the new information. "Anything on the body yet?" she asked the two officers.

"Nothing yet, I was just down at the morgue, Dr Stewart was about to start her examination of the body when I left." Chris said.

"Right," Gail said as she stood, "I want you two out there canvassing the neighbourhood surrounding that lake. I saw a gas station and a bar a kilometre or two up the road from the turn off to the lake. See if anyone saw anything suspicious yesterday. Check if the gas station has surveillance, we might get lucky and catch something important. Ask specifically about Ford trucks in the area. I'm sure there are a few cabins around there too, see if any of them are inhabited and find out if anyone saw anything. Take Collins and Price with you."

"Sure thing boss," Andy said with a smirk as she and Chris turned to go. She didn't miss the scowl that Gail threw her way and it made her smile widen. She and Gail had been in a good place lately, after all the awkwardness with the whole Nick fiasco she had to admit that she was happy that she and Gail had once again found some middle ground, a place where they could be friends. It had taken a long time and a lot of persistence, and she wouldn't openly admit it to anyone but after all they had experienced together Gail Peck was someone important to her.

IV

Gail picked her keys up off the desk and tossed her empty coffee cup into the trash as she made her way out of the station and over to the morgue. On the short drive over her stomach started to protest the fact that it had not yet been fed. Luckily there happened to be a place just around the corner that made some of the best donuts in town.

Pedro smiled as he saw Gail pushing open the door to his shop, she was by far one of his favourite customers. Not only because she probably spent at least a quarter of her salary here but she had a great sense of humour and although she didn't show it he could tell she had a soft heart. "Ah Officer Peck, your usual?" He questioned as she walked up to the counter.

Gail smiled, "Sure thing Pedro, and throw in a few extra today if you can spare them, and maybe one of those health biscuit things you make."

She watched as he went about packing a selection of donuts into a box for her and then started on her coffee.

"No uniform today officer?" he said as he placed her order onto the shelf.

"No uniform anymore at all actually, I made Detective two weeks ago," Gail replied, blushing when she saw the pride on Pedro's face, dropping her eyes to the box in front of her. Sometimes she wished her mother would look at her that way. All she got from her when she'd heard about the promotion was a card with the word congratulations printed in gaudy red letters on the inside, her mother had scribbled four words in the card - don't screw this up.

He was still beaming down at her when she looked up. "I always knew you were meant for great things. Detective Gail Peck, that has a nice ring to it." He winked at her, causing her blush to deepen further.

Gail cleared her throat and reached for her wallet in the back pocket of her jeans. "Oh no, no, this one's on the house," Pedro said, refusing to take the money Gail held out to him. "Well done on your promotion Detective Peck."

"Thanks Pedro," Gail said with a shy smile. She picked up the box and the coffee and made her way to the door, throwing a quick wave over her shoulder as she pushed out the door.

She looked over at the coffee sitting on top of the donut box on her passenger seat. Another cup was probably not a good idea. She wondered if the doctor was a coffee drinker, bribery might come in useful somewhere along the line, she thought to herself with a smile.

V

Gail strolled into the morgue, coffee and donuts in hand. She made her way over to the front desk and smiled when she saw Tony behind the desk. The guard was a burly man in his late forties with thinning brown hair. Gail had worked hard for the little soft spot he had for her, it was always a good idea to have someone like Tony on your side. He may not look it but he was the town gossip, he knew anything and everything there was to know about anybody in the Toronto police world.

"Hey Tony," she greeted him, opening the box of donuts for him to inspect. "Donut?" she asked as he smacked his lips together.

"Hey Gail. Don't mind if I do," he said, picking up a caramel glaze in his pudgy fingers. "So what brings you all the way out here to the morgue on such a fine day?"

"I'm looking for Dr Stewart actually, she picked up a John Doe who's case I'm working." Gail said as she watched Tony munch his donut.

"Oh yeah, the guy from the lake. She's just started with him over in bay two. This is her first case since she transferred in from Vancouver. Rumour has it she is pretty good at what she does. Heard the bosses think she's quite a catch, plan on grooming her to take over the head honcho position pretty soon. If it happens in the next two years she'll be the youngest pathologist ever to head the Toronto lab," he said as he popped the last piece of his donut into his mouth and started licking the icing off of his fingers.

Gail gestured to the box, signalling that he should help himself to another donut, she wanted to keep Tony talking for a little longer and maybe get a little more dirt on the new doctor. You never knew what could come in handy one day.

Tony took a big bite of the cream filled he had in his hand and continued, "Graduated top of her class from med school at McGill, stayed on there to complete her pathology residency then moved on to Vancouver's medical examiners office after that. She helped them close some tough cases up there. Little bit of a genius our Dr Stewart." He chewed for a while before looking around conspiratorially before beckoning Gail closer. "You didn't hear this from me missy but I've been told by a reliable source that our Doc in there is a bit of a hit with the ladies, if you know what I mean," he whispered near Gail's ear as she leant over the counter.

Gail grinned, bingo. That was totally something she could use. Gail knew she was a bit of a looker and wasn't averse to using that to get what she wanted. Hell, a little harmless flirting never hurt anyone and besides if it got her what she needed to solve a case quicker who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth.

VI

She stood outside the autopsy suite observing Dr Stewart through the glass for a minute. The body was unwrapped from the tarp and underlying carpet which she noted were spread out on separate tables to the left of the gurney that held the now naked elderly looking man. The doctor was busy with her external examination, scribbling furiously on a body diagram as she walked around the gurney inspecting the body from every angle. Ever so often she would push her glasses back up her nose with her left hand. As she rounded the body for the second time she caught sight of Gail through the glass and stopped. She tilted her head to the left and gave Gail a questioning lop sided grin, as if to say,'why are you out there?'

Gail raised the now half empty box of donuts and the coffee she was still clutching for the Doctor to see. Dr Stewart put down the clip bored and shed her apron and gloves as she made her way to the door, stopping briefly to wash her hands before stepping out of the autopsy suite and making her way over to Gail.

"And here I was thinking you had a weak stomach detective," the Doctor said with a grin as she stopped next to where Gail stood.

"Nah, just not all that keen on contaminating my breakfast," Gail replied, holding the coffee cup out towards the brunette who hesitated before reaching for it. She hadn't expected such a kind gesture from the detective. Gail narrowed her eyes and withdrew the coffee before Holly's hand could close around it. "You aren't going to contaminate my breakfast are you?" She asked as she ran her eyes up and down the brunette's body suspiciously.

Holly chuckled, holding up her hands in defence, "Nope, left all the icky protective gear inside and I've scrubbed my hands too."

Gail eyed her suspiciously for another few seconds before extending her hand holding the coffee toward the brunette once again.

Holly hummed in appreciation as she sipped the warm liquid. "Thanks," she said as she wrapped her long fingers around the cup.

"I didn't know how you take your coffee so I kind of guessed. You look like a low fat milk no sugar kind of girl." Gail said as she lifted the lid on the box and picked out an apple danish, her favourite, and took an enormous bite out of it. She turned the box toward Holly who just raised an eyebrow at her skeptically.

"You call this breakfast? Do you eat like this every morning?" Holly asked amused, "If so I don't even want to know what your cholesterol levels are like."

"Hey, I brought you coffee. I was being nice, which means you don't get to bad mouth my choice of sustenance." Gail said, pretending to be offended. "Or I might just take that coffee back," she said around a mouthful of gooey apple cinnamony goodness.

Holly clutched the coffee cup closer to her chest theatrically as she looked back at Gail who was still munching on her danish. "I won't say another word."

Gail nodded in approval as she took another pastry from the box while still chewing her last bite of the previous one. "And if you look carefully you will notice that I even picked up one of the ridiculous health biscuits for you, but now I don't think you deserve it anymore." She said as she started closing the box again.

Holly's stomach chose just that moment to growl rather loudly, causing Gail to smirk. "So what do you say nerd, seems your stomach really wants your disgusting cookie," Gail said wiggling the box in front of Holly's nose.

Holly turned to face Gail completely, putting on her best puppy dog eyes she said, "Please may I have the awesome health cookie you went out of your way to procure just for me." She blinked at Gail a few times, pouting her lips. Gail stood very still watching her for a few seconds, making no move to open the box. Just when Holy thought she was never going to get her cookie and had resigned herself to going hungry for a few more hours Gail shrugged and opened the box for her.

She reached in to pick up the cookie, her eyes flickering up to Gail's face as she grabbed the only other apple danish in the box and retracted her hand quickly and taking a bite.

"Hey!" Gail exclaimed in indignation, "That's not yours, put it back."

Holly put on the most innocent look she could muster and pointed at the danish. "But I've contaminated it," she said as she took another bite. Gail scowled at Holly as she slowly finished off the danish, purposefully enjoying every bite. Gail threw her hands up in a huff, she picked up the box to go leave at the front desk for Tony to finish off the last two donuts and the horrible biscuit.

"Hey, what about my health cookie?" Holly asked with a smile as Gail stomped off.

"You don't deserve it nerd," she called behind her as she rounded the corner.

Holly chuckled, this was going to be interesting, she thought to herself as she made her way back into the autopsy suit to gown and glove for the internal examination.

VII

Holly was elbow deep in the victim's chest cavity when Gail reappeared. She honestly hadn't expected her to come back after her earlier theatrics. She raised an eyebrow at her from under her face shield as she removed the heart from its place within the mediastinum and placed it onto the scale to her left, noting it's mass.

"What," Gail said, looking from Holly to the heart in the steal dish, "I came here for answers and now I'm damn well going to get a few seeing as you stole my danish. This is a give and take kind of relationship Dr Stewart."

"Holly," said the brunette as she stuck her hands back into the thoracic cavity intent on removing the lungs next. "Seeing as we have reached the stage where I steal your food I think we should probably be on a first name basis."

"Gail," said the blonde detective simply as she watched as Holly removed both lungs, making a note regarding their colour and consistency before reaching for a large knife, slicing into one and inspecting the underlying tissue. Gail had inched closer to get a better look as the doctor worked.

"If you plan on standing that close I suggest you put on some protective gear, unless you'd like to wear bloody clothes for the rest of the day." Holly said as the detective lent over the body to get a better look. She pointed out the shoe covers, gowns and face shields near the doorway and watched out of the corner of her eye as Gail complied and covered up. She shook her head as Gail made her way back over, this woman was very intriguing indeed.

Gail silently watched the pathologist work for a few minutes more before clearing her throat to get Holly's attention. "So what can you tell me so far?" She asked, focusing her attention on Holly's steady hands as she slid the liver from the abdomen and inspected it closely.

"Well, our victim is Martin Brandenburg, a 67 year old Toronto native, confirmed by his drivers licence and I also took the liberty of requesting and comparing his dental records to known records on file. He is definitely our guy. I found his wallet in the front pocket of his shorts when we unwrapped him earlier. I receipted it to officer Price who took it over to prints to check if anyone else may have touched it seeing as it was devoid of any cash. His external exam came back clear, I couldn't find any external signs of trauma. No obvious contusions, incisions or lacerations severe enough to have caused his death. Although I did find a small mark in his right cubical fossa in keeping with a blood draw of IV injection of some kind. That could be significant, we'll know more once the tox results come back. I managed to get hold of his primary care physician who provided us with a medical history, he had a Myocardial infarction two years ago and his cardiologist had to stent his left anterior descending artery. He is also an insulin dependent type 2 diabetic and suffered from hypertension."

Holly looked over to see Gail giving her a disdainful look, "Not all of us speak nerd lunchbox, how about plain english."

Holly gave her an apologetic look, "Sorry, sometimes I forget. Basically he's had a heart attack, had a problem controlling his blood sugar so he needed to inject himself with insulin and took medicine for his blood pressure."

"So basically what you are saying is you don't really know what killed him yet." Gail said looking on while Holly returned the organs she had removed to their respective cavities.

"Not yet no," she said as she began to suture the Y incision closed. "We can definitely rule out trauma and it wasn't a heart attack or a stroke. His brain and internal organs all appear to be normal other than the expected age related changes. Now it's a bit of a waiting game for the histology and toxicology to come back."

Gail looked a bit despondent as she began to strip off her protective gear and dump it into the red trash bins. "What about time of death?" she asked as she lent up against the door frame watching Holly secure the last suture.

"Well his rigor has come and gone. Taking the ambient temperature outdoors, his liver temperature and the general state of the body into account I would put time of death at between 34 and 38 hours ago. He was definitely left in a sitting position for some time after death, at least six hours, and then moved later. She motioned Gail over when she saw the confused look on her face. She folded the victim's arm furthest from her over his chest and bent the knee on the same side, angling it over the other leg facing her, grabbing his shoulder and his hip she rolled the body towards herself with one practiced move. Steadying the body with the hand on his hip she pointed to the reddish purple discolouration over the victims buttocks, thighs and feet. "Livor mortis," she said as she rolled him back carefully. "Starts setting in about 20-30 minutes after death. It's caused by pooling of blood within the subcutaneous tissue due to gravity. If he had been lying on his back you would have seen a completely different pattern."

Gail's i phone pinged as a text landed, she dug it out of her pocket and swiped across the screen to read the message from Diaz. "As much fun as this has been, I've gotta run doc, you know, things to do, people to see… murders to solve" she said as she made her way to the door. Just before walking out she turned and did something very un-Gail like. "Thanks for the help nerd." She said, slapping the door frame as she left.

"Any time detective," Holly said with one of her lop sided smiles crossing her face. She lent against the door frame as she watched Gail walk away. "FYI, I can totally be bought with a good pastry!" She called after Gail who chuckled and waved over her shoulder without turning around.

Wow. The only word that came to Holly's mind as she turned back to the body and began to cover it with the sheet. It had been a while since she'd felt this kind of attraction for someone. She'd met her less than 24 hrs ago and already the snarky detective was getting under her skin, in a good way. "Easy there Stewart," she mumbled to herself as she went through the rest of her routine, "you hardly know anything about her, hell, you don't even know if she's gay." Holly sighed as she made her way to her office wondering when she'd get to see Gail again, secretly hoping that fate would throw them together again soon.


	2. Chapter 2

And here we are again, for your reading pleasure (Hopefully). As we all know, I own nothing except the mistakes of course. Also, I'm not Canadian so please excuse any strange sayings etc you may find and secondly, I know nothing about police procedure so everything in here I've picked up from books or series. So please read, review and PM, I love to hear what you guys think, don't be shy. Oh and I have no beta so if you spot any glaring mistakes please let me know so I can fix them.

**Chapter 2**

I

Gail sauntered into 15 and made her way into their case room. Chris and Andy had done a good job of setting everything up. Stuck up on the centre of the white board was the drivers licence photo of Martin Brandenburg with all of his vital statistics charted underneath in bullet point form.

Andy was adding scene photos to the board while Chris stuck up a picture of a blue Ford F150. Gail perched on the edge of one of the desks surrounding the board and surveyed the officers for a minute. Price walked in carrying a stack of papers, "Oh hey Gail, I was just about to call you, we think we have made a little head way here."

"Okay guys, walk me through what we have so far. Price, how about we start with you?" Gail said.

"So Firstly, Dr Stewart found our vic's wallet in his pants pocket, he has been identified as Mr Martin Brandenburg, 67, residing at 521 Coronation Road. He was married, his wife was Sophia Brandenburg, who is 60. She worked as a registered nurse in the Emergency department at St Jude's until her retirement 2 years ago. They had been married for 40 years this past June. He had a step daughter, Maria and a son, Andrew, who was killed in action in Afghanistan. So far we haven't been able to get hold of his wife or step daughter and there was no answer at his home. He worked as a plumber until he retired 7 years ago, selling off his business soon after. He had no criminal record of note, one or two outstanding parking fines is all I could find" Chloe said to the group as Andy updated the information on the board.

"Chris, tell us about the truck," Gail said, pointing out the picture he'd tacked to the board.

"Mr Brandenburg owned a blue 2008 Ford F150, it was not found at his residence. We have released a BOLO for the vehicle, but no sitings as yet. As we know, the tire prints from the scene match those of a tire commonly used on Ford F150 trucks. When we find the truck we will be able to compare the tread to the print we have on file." Said Chris.

Andy continued where Chris left off. "We had no luck with the surrounding cabins, only two were inhabited, both pretty far from the body dump on the opposite side of the lake. One of the residents was so old I doubt he could even see past the front porch while I'm pretty sure the other was still drunk. We had better luck at the gas station, one of the surveillance cameras is pointed at the road in front of it. Dov is currently watching the footage, with a little luck we'll catch the truck coming by."

Dov appeared in the doorway just then as if he had been sent for. "I got a visual on a blue F150 Ford cruising past the gas station at around 23H30 on friday evening. Unfortunately the picture is very grainy and with the reflection of the florescent lights from the gas station its pretty impossible to see the driver. I cleaned up the image a bit and it's definitely Mr Brandenburg's vehicle, the licence plates match what we have on file. I've taken the file down to the tech guys, we'll see if they can give us something more."

Gail nodded as she pondered all the information she just received. "Dr Stewart puts time of death between 11h00 and 14h00 on friday. She couldn't find any signs of trauma being the cause of death so my money is on poisoning of some kind, I'll be keeping in touch with the doc until we have confirmation. As we know, poisoning is more commonly used by female killers or males wishing to incapacitate their prey so we really need to track down the wife and step daughter. Right now we are considering them our main suspects until they can be ruled out."

Gail stood from her perch on the edge of the desk. "Good job guys, lets keep up the momentum on this one. Dov, see what you can get out of the tech guys. Diaz and Price, lets see if we can track down that truck, also, get a little more background on the wife and daughter, just in case they have something shady lurking in their past. Call me if you find anything interesting. McNally, you're with me, lets pay Mrs Brandenburg a little visit, see what she has to say for herself." Gail said as she dismissed her little team.

II

Andy drove slowly passed 521 Coronation while Gail surveyed the house and neighbourhood from the passenger seat. Her sharp eyes darted over the number plate of a silver Chevy Cruize parked in the driveway, which she read off to Andy as they passed by. They circled the block and ran the plate, which came back to Maria Brandenburg, 36, no employment history on file. Cited for a DUI 3 years ago, nothing further of interest. Andy pulled into the drive, blocking the chevy in as she parked.

Gail slipped out of the passenger seat, subconsciously placing her hand on her gun and straightening the holster as she and McNally walked up the porch steps to the front door.

She knocked three times and stepped to the side as they waited for a response from within the house. Gail watched as she saw the curtains in the left hand window twitch, she held up her badge toward the window and announced clearly, "Ma'am, I'm Detective Gail Peck with the Toronto Police Department, would you mind opening the door? We are Looking for Mrs Sophia Brandenburg, is this her residence?"

There was the sound of a dead bolt sliding and a lock being turned before the face of an elderly woman appeared from behind the door. "I am Sophia Brandenburg. How can I help you officers?" The woman said as she opened the door wider.

"Ma'am, I'm officer McNally, Detective Peck and I were wondering if we might come in and chat to you for a moment?" Andy said as she looked into the hall behind the woman.

"Oh sure officers, come on in. You'll have to excuse the mess, been doing a little spring cleaning so everything is a little all over the place." She said as she moved to the sitting room. Gail noted that the woman was pretty agile for a 60 year old as she walked ahead of them. "Please, take a seat. Can I get you two ladies anything, tea, maybe some home made lemonade? Made a fresh batch just this morning." She said with a smile.

"No Thank you Mrs Brandenburg, I think we are just fine." Gail said, returning the smile. Andy flipped open her notepad as she waited for Gail to start the interview. "Ma'am I would like to ask you a few questions about your husband, Mr Martin Brandenburg, if that's okay?" Gail said as she analysed the woman sat across from them.

"Is Martin in some kind of trouble?" She asked, her facial expression giving nothing away.

Gail cleared her throat, death notifications were one of her least favourite parts of the job. "I'm Sorry to have to tell you this Mrs Brandenburg but a body was found out by a small fishing hole a few kilometres from here, the body has been identified as Mr Martin Brandenburg. His wallet was found in his pants pocket and his photo ID matches that of the man we found. Our Forensic Pathologist also had the deceased's dental records compared to those of your husband and they came back a match."

Gail watched the woman reach up and place her hand over her mouth, she was quite for a long while before she began to shake her head no. "There must be some kind of mistake," she said in a barely audible whisper. "I saw him on friday, he was fine. I mean sure we had an argument that morning and he stormed out and took off in his truck. I thought he'd just gone off somewhere to blow off some steam like he usually does." She shook her head again, "you must have the wrong person, it can't be Martin, it just can't be."

Gail's phone chose that moment to start ringing, frowning she looked down to the screen. Diaz blinked on the screen as it rang. "Excuse me Mrs Brandenburg, but I unfortunately have to take this," she said as she looked over to Andy so she could take over.

Gail answered and stepped into the room next door which looked like a small TV room. "What's up Diaz," she said as she looked around.

"I think you might find this useful," came the reply from down the line. "Turns out Mrs Brandenburg has a fondness for playing the ponies. She has lost a substantial amount of money over the years. I spoke to Mr Brandenburg's business partner who also happens to be a close family friend. He confided that it got so bad at one stage about ten years ago that Martin was considering divorce. Apparently the Mrs put them into quite a bit of debt, they almost lost their house. He says things got better for a while but that Martin was becoming suspicious that she had gone back to the gambling just recently when he found a large sum of money missing from their joint account."

Gail walked around the room while Chris spoke, picking photo's up off of the mantle to study them. She toed the edge of a loose brick at the base of an old fireplace, her eyes fell onto a strange pattern on the carpet coming out from under the coffee table. She turned to look at it more closely. Frowning she walked around the table to get a better look. Chris heard the sharp intake of breath from Gail's end.

"Gail? You okay?" He asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Sure, Sure." She said, sounding far away. "Listen Chris, I need to go. See if you can dig into the Brandenburg's finances and get back to me. Thanks for the info." And before he could say another word he was listening to a dial tone.

Gail knelt next to the coffee table to get a closer look at the carpet. It was as if there had been a rug or something under the coffee table that had been removed, leaving a clean spot where it had been and marks on the carpet surrounding it from many years of dirt and wear. Gail looked around quickly, checking that she was still alone before pushing the table aside and walking the edges to estimate the size of the clean square on the floor below. Quickly, she took a twenty out of her wallet and placed it in the middle of the square and snapped a few photos with her phone. Turning to the couch she took a few snaps of it too, just in case, before returning the coffee table to its rightful position. Making sure that everything was back in its place she turned and left the room, returning to McNally who gave her a questioning look when she saw Gail's face.

Gail jerked her head toward the door signalling to Andy that it was time to get out of here before addressing Mrs Brandenburg, "Once again I'm so sorry for your loss ma'am," She said. "We just have a few more questions we need to ask you but I don't think now is the best time. We'd like to set up a time for you to come in tomorrow if that would be better?" Gail said as Andy stood and Mrs Brandenburg followed suit. "We could arrange for you to view your husband's body if you wish, I've found that it affords closure to some."

Mrs Brandenburg nodded. "That would be fine dear." She looked a bit lost as she ushered them toward the door.

Gail fished a card out of her wallet, writing tomorrow's date and a time on the back of the card she handed it over to Mrs Brandenburg. "Is there someone we could call to be with you in this difficult time?" Andy asked as they stepped over the threshold onto the porch.

"No, thank you dear. My daughter will be back shortly, she's just out for a walk with our dog." She said, offering them a weak smile.

"It would be great if she could accompany you to the station tomorrow, for moral support and we may have a few questions she may be able to help us with as well." Gail said as she watched the elderly lady.

"Yes, anything we can do to help detective." She said, snapping the card between her fingers.

"Feel free to call if you think of anything that may be helpful, anything at all." Gail said, watching the woman nod and turn back into the house.

Gail practically sprinted back to the squad car with a confused looking Andy trailing not far behind. "Keep up McNally, we have work to do." She said as she yanked open the door and jumping into the front seat.

III

Gail whipped out her phone, dialled a number and held it pressed to her ear with her shoulder as she opened the window. "Oliver, I think I've got something. How quickly can you get an unmarked out to 521 Coronation?" She said as she motioned for Andy to pull over a little way down the street, just out of the line of sight of the house they had just been in. "Right, thanks. I owe you." She said and hung up.

"Gail, what the hell is going on?" Andy asked, the confused look still plain as day on her face.

"That woman in there killed her husband in that house or was at least in on it." Gail said, her eyes fixed on McNally.

The intensity behind those blue eyes was so sharp that sometimes it scared Andy who looked back at Gail skeptically.

"I'm telling you McNally, I'm so sure that I'd bet a years supply of cheese puffs on it." She said, turning back to keep an eye on the street as they waited for the plain clothes officers in their unmarked car to show up before they returned to the station.

Collins and Price pulled up across the street from Andy's squad ten minutes later. Gail hopped out and lent into the window of the unmarked as she briefed her team. "Don't let these two out of your sight. We are going to watch them like a hawk until they come walking into the doors of 15 tomorrow morning. Any suspicious behaviour and you pick them up, you got me?" She said. Both officers nodded and settled into their surveillance for the evening. Gail trotted back to the car, yanking the door open and jumping in. Andy could almost feel the excitement radiating off of her.

"Drive McNally, Drop me off at the morgue on your way to the station." She said as she tapped her finger on the dash impatiently.

IV

Gail pushed through the doors, looking over at Tony who was just getting ready to hand over to the night shift. "Stewart?" Was all she said as she passed him by.

"Third floor, in her office. It's the second door to the right as you get up the stairs." He said as Gail disappeared into the stairwell.

Holly was sat behind her desk peering at slides from a different case under her microscope when she felt a presence nearby. She looked up and gave one of her lop sided grins Gail was coming to appreciate as a uniquely Holly thing.

"Well detective, three times in one day, I'm feeling rather popular." She said as she pushed her chair back from her desk.

Gail rolled her eyes but couldn't help but grin at the forensic pathologist. She liked the fact that the woman wasn't put off by her snark and sarcasm. In fact she gave just as good as she got and secretly Gail loved it.

"Don't flatter yourself Doc. You still got that carpet Martin Brandenburg was wrapped in lying around here?" She asked as she lent against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Sure do, It's downstairs locked away in our evidence locker. Why?" She asked.

"I'll show you," said Gail striding into the office eying the printer on the shelf behind Holly's left shoulder. "This thing AirPrint?" she asked, flicking the switch to on. Holly nodded as the printer came to life with a few grumbles and a humming noise.

Gail had her phone out and hit print on the few pictures she had from the Brandenburg house that she had taken earlier. She flipped through them quickly, the quality was actually pretty good. She handed them over to Holly who scrutinised them closely. "What do you see there nerd?" She asked as she watched Holly.

"These appear to be photos of a couch and a large clean spot on a carpet." Holly said, holding the photo's up to her desk lamp to get a better look.

"Give the lady a Bells,"* Gail said, wrapping her knuckles on the desk, "And what pray, could leave such a square clean spot on a carpet?"

Holly's mouth formed into an O as realisation struck.

"Now have a look at the couch," Gail said moving around the back of Holly's chair and leaning over her shoulder. "Right there," she said, pointing out two buttons.

Holly's heart rate had picked up with Gail's close proximity, the scent of oranges and a slight spiciness drifting into her nostrils. She focused on the picture, trying hard to pay attention to what she was looking at. The grey couch was rather nondescript, the buttons placed equidistant from one another, in both the seat and the back rest, presumably to either anchor the cushioning into place or for a purely decorative effect, who knew.

Gail had started talking again, pulling Holly from her thoughts. "Remember when you turned the body this morning, you were explaining about lividity…" Gail trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah. The round blanched areas on his thighs could totally be explained by pressure from the buttons." Holly said as she turned to look at Gail. They were mere centimetres apart. Gail's eyes locked onto Holly's. The intensity of Gail's gaze practically seared Holly's corneas, her icy blue eyes sparkled with excitement. Holly pulled the photos she'd taken earlier from their folder and flipped through them until she found the specific one she was looking for. Holding the two prints up next to each other the similarity between the buttons and the marks left on the victims legs were undeniable.

"Bingo!" Gail said as she stepped back and clapped her hands together, bringing Holly out of her Gail fuelled fog. She seemed to be able to concentrate better now that the blonde had moved out of her personal space.

She looked over at Gail, "Bravo detective, its seems you may have found the primary scene."

Gail grinned, causing Holly to grin right back at her. Before she realised she'd even said it the words had slipped from her mouth, "You know you are kinda cute when you aren't scowling, you should smile more often."

Gail's face dropped into a frown, "Watch it Stewart, the last of my ex-boyfriends to call me cute got a kick in the nuts and a threat to surgically remove a certain appendage may also have been made."

Gail raised an eyebrow as Holly actually laughed out loud and held up both her hands in surrender. "Well, not only do I have neither of the above mentioned appendages, I also have absolutely no use for them." Holly stood from behind her desk and took in Gail's confused face. "Gay," Holly said, pointing both her thumbs at her own chest.

Gail shrugged and turned to head out the door. "You coming nerd? I want to have a look at that rug and I need a witness to my unrivalled brilliance. Oh and bring a tape measure." She said over her shoulder.

They headed down to the evidence room and removed the carpet, taking it into the same autopsy suit they had been in earlier. They unrolled it and took the measurements they needed.

"Neat trick with the twenty dollar bill Peck, I'm impressed. Now we have a scale to use to work out the actual size of the carpet." Holly said as she did a few quick calculations. "And they too are spot on. In my opinion the space left on that carpet could have been made by this rug."

Gail helped Holly to get the rug back into the evidence room before announcing that she needed to get back to the world of the living to solve the mysteries of the dead. "I Have a good feeling about this one doc, we are going to wrap this up sooner than you think." She said as Holly walked her to the door.

"Oh I have no doubt detective," she said with a small smile. "Give me a call in the morning, I should have some preliminary results from the toxicology by then."

"Will do, and Doc, when we wrap this up you'll have to come over to the Penny for a drink with us. You know, seeing as you are and integral part of the team and all." Gail said with a grin.

"I'd like that," Holly said with a chuckle, "although I have a feeling that this invitation has more to do with my ability to attest to your amazing detective skills than my contribution to the case."

Gail winked at the brunette, "Would have made a pretty good detective yourself Doc."

Holly watched as Gail walked back toward the station. "You are so totally in trouble here Stewart." She mumbled to herself as she made her way back into her building.

V

Gail found herself in their small case room once again, waiting for her 'task force' to arrive. The five officers weren't far behind. Andy was first through the door, placing a steaming mug of coffee down in front of Gail with a smile. Nick yawned widely as he plopped down into a chair. Gail smirked as she watched him, although she had pretty much forgiven him for running off with one of the people she had considered to be one of her good friends it was still fun to make him pay every now and then. Just to remind him he was a jack ass once in a while. In hindsight it was probably a blessing, she and Nick's rocky past was probably quite an accurate testament to what their future may have looked like if they had stayed together.

Gail turned her attention to her officers as Dov began to speak. "Unfortunately the image we have from the gas station surveillance is about as cleaned up as it's going to get. No luck with the driver, all we can say is that whoever it is might be caucasian." He said.

Gail scowled. That was not what she wanted to hear. "On a brighter note though, we found the truck. It was parked in a Motel parking lot about 20 km from the lake. It's down with the crime scene guys being processed as we speak. They have found three sets of prints so far, they are running them against the vic and family first." Dov looked down at his notes as he continued. "I checked with the clerk at the motel, who said he first noticed the truck on saturday morning when he came in to work. He said it wasn't there the evening before when her came off shift. The night manager didn't see anything while he was on duty, of course, and none of the tenants were any help either."

Chloe seemed to have designated herself as scribe this morning while the others spoke. Updating the board as the went along.

"We sat on the Brandenburg house all night, no suspicious behaviour from the pair. The daughter came out at around ten PM with the dog but that was about as exciting as it got. Mullins and Quentin are on the house right now. They will stick with them until they come in to the station later." Nick said, stifling another yawn.

"We got hold of the Brandenburg's financials. Seems the family friend was right about the near bankruptcy a few years ago. Things had been pretty steady money wise since then, until a couple of months ago. Cash withdrawals from their joint account of about $1000 were being made monthly for the last four months, then this past month it bumped up to $3500. There is no record where the money was going to." Chris said as he passed the papers over to Gail to peruse.

Gail looked up from the papers Chris had handed her. "As I said yesterday to McNally, I'm pretty damn sure Mr Brandenburg met his end in that house." She said as she tossed the folder with the photos she'd taken yesterday to Chloe to pin up. Everyone turned to have a look as Gail spoke. "That clean spot there on the carpet under the coffee table matches the size of the rug Martin Brandenburg was found wrapped in. Doctor Stewart and I confirmed it with measurements yesterday." Changing her focus to the couch she pointed out the buttons, "Those buttons seem to be what made those marks on the back of his thighs," she moved her finger over to the autopsy photo in question. "The Doc says in her opinion, he was probably sat on that chair when he died and was left there for about 6 hours before he was moved. Now obviously at this point its all speculation so we need to get into that house and confirm it. Which is what we are going to do today."

Gail stood and everyone in the room followed suit. "Collins and Price will be off home for a well deserved nap. I'm off to the morgue to have a chat with Dr Stewart about the toxicology results. McNally, you and Diaz need to pick up the search warrant I organised from judge Baker's clerk. Dov, you will be sticking around here with Ollie to finalise our search team, I'll give you a call once I'm done with the Doc and we'll all meet up back here before heading out." Gail nodded to signify that that was all she had to say and everyone began to disperse to their given tasks.

VI

Gail did nothing more that raise her eyebrows toward Tony as she walked into reception. '"Office," he grunted without lifting his eyes from the monitor in front of him.

Taking the stairs two at a time her momentum carried her through the door to Holly's floor at pace. Bringing her smack bang into the woman she had come to find, knocking her off balance and reeling towards the floor. Gail's catlike reflexes jumped into action as she reached forward and grabbed the doctor by the wrist with one hand while the other found its way around her waist, pulling her forward towards herself. Time seemed to slow as their bodies came together, Holly's free hand finding its way to Gail's shoulder. Gail's eyes locked onto the deep brown pools lurking behind the now skewed glasses on the brunette's face. Her breath hitched and it felt as if there was an electric current passing between them where Gail's hand had wrapped around Holly's bare wrist. They stood like that for what felt like aeons but it was probably nothing more than mere seconds.

The movement Holly caught in the corner of her eye is what broke the spell. She stepped back and cleared her throat, fixing her glasses as she bent to pick up the papers that had fallen during the collision. It took Gail a moment longer to come back to reality.

"What the hell was that?" Gail's mind screamed at her as she knelt to help collect up the paper work.

"Sorry," She mumbled, not quite trusting her voice yet. "bit of a hurry." Gail said, finally looking up at the Doctor, affording her a tentative grin. Gail noticed the flush still present on Holly's cheeks and neck and she felt something stir inside her. Get a grip Peck, what the hell is wrong with you? She thought to herself.

Holly cleared her throat, "No problem." She smiled. "I was expecting a call but yet here you are in the flesh."

"Well I find it easier to intimidate people in person, you know, just in case they try and give me the run around over the phone," Gail said with a shrug.

"Come on, lets go over to my office and I'll run you through the preliminary tox report," Holly said, touching Gail's elbow as she passed.

Gail took a seat in one of the chairs across from Holly's desk, looking around the small office, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes skirted over the degrees hanging on the wall to a framed Toronto Maple Leafs Jersey. She frowned, "I thought you were from Victoria, whats with the Maple Leafs jersey?"

"Checking up on me detective," Holly said, watching Gail over the rim of her glasses, a slight smile spreading across her lips.

Gail looked her dead in the eye, "I'm a detective Holly, that's what I do."

"Holly chuckled, "fair enough. My Father is from Toronto, he is a huge fan and it kind of just rubbed off on me. We used to watch games together, was sort of our thing."

Gail just nodded, her curiosity seemingly satisfied for the moment.

Holly glanced down at the papers on her desk, "So far almost all our screening tests have come back negative, there were no known illicit drugs in Mr Brandenburg's body. Drugs wise all we've got is a slightly high level of a prescription sleep aid, not enough to kill anyone though." Gail's face dropped as Holly spoke. "But I did find something interesting, He had massively high insulin levels in his blood and vitreous for someone who had been dead for quite a while, which is rather strange as insulin is broken down extremely quickly. Normally, in someone who has been dead as long as Martin Brandenburg, insulin levels are close to zero. I compared the insulin to C-peptide ratio and everything points to a massive dose of insulin in Mr Brandenburg's system. Now we know that he was an insulin dependant diabetic but these kinds of levels are far too high."

Gail looked at her pensively, "Like kill someone kind of massive?" She asked.

"Definitely." Holly replied with a nod.

"Could he have given it to himself, like by accident?" Gail asked.

Holly thought for a while, "It's possible I suppose, but highly unlikely. Unless he was purposefully trying to kill himself for some reason. Most diabetics are very knowledgeable about the dangers of insulin and take extreme care with it. And he also didn't wrap himself in a rug and hop out to the lake so there's that."

Gail thought for a moment, "A nurse would know that an overdose of insulin would be deadly right?"

"Oh sure," Holly nodded. She could see the gears turning behind Gail's eyes as she watched her think from across the desk.

Gail felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, it was a message from Dov, they were ready to head over to the Brandenburg house. "Gotta love and leave you Doc. Thanks for the info. Be ready for that drink later, I have a feeling this is about to wrap itself up rather nicely with a bow on top and everything." Gail said as she sauntered from the lab.

* Give that man a Bells is a saying we use quite a lot here, I have no idea if its used elsewhere, possibly in the U.K. If you'd like to know about it, just ask :)


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! So here is the next instalment for your reading pleasure. Thanks again for all the reviews and PM's, you are all awesome. For those who asked: Bells is a brand of Whiskey and the saying basically means you did good so you deserve some good whiskey :) Anyway, read, review and be merry.

**Chapter 3**

I

Gail opened the passenger door of Dov's cruiser as he pulled up beside her and plopped into the seat. She could see the excitement on his face. "Onward!" She said, motioning forward as if to start a charge. Dov chuckled, Gail was her own little bit of weird.

Gail was lost in her thoughts on the 20 minute drive over to the Brandenburg house, the scene from earlier playing over and over in her head. The hand she had used to grab Holly by the wrist still tingled and burned where it touched her skin. She looked down at the offending appendage, frowning as she ran her thumb over the other fingers trying to rid herself of the sensation. This was new for her, Gail had never had this kind of a reaction to any human being before. Sure, she considered herself open minded. She'd always know she found certain women attractive and she liked to think that if something ever came from such an attraction she's be okay with that. So far in her life though the opportunity had never presented itself, until now. The question was, would she pursue it… To Gail, relationships where messy and required work. Two things she didn't particularly enjoy, and so far none of her previous relationships had instilled any faith in the human condition within Gail.

She sighed, "God, I hate people." Gail grumbled to herself. Earning a confused frown from Dov as they pulled up outside the house. "Shut up," she said, before Dov could say a word she was already half way out the car.

Three other cruisers pulled up to the curb as Gail made her way up the front walk. The officers gathered on the lawn behind her as she knocked on the front door. The curtain in the window twitched before Gail heard the dead bolt and locks turn. Mrs Brandenburg opened the door, shooting Gail a confused look. "I'm sorry detective, I thought we were meeting you at the station at 11h30?" She said with a questioning look.

'Oh yes ma'am," Gail said, "we were just wondering if we could have a little look around before then." She smiled sweetly at the elderly woman.

"Aren't you supposed to have a warrant for that kind of thing," a voice piped up from the darkened passage behind Sophia. Slowly, a younger woman came into view. She had short, curly, mouse brown hair and acne ravaged skin. Maria Brandenburg, Gail presumed. She looked like her mother, she had the same eyes and nose, but considerably more bulk Gail noticed as she stepped to the side of the elderly woman in front of her.

"Sure do," Gail said cheerfully as she handed over a folded piece of paper to Maria who opened it and perused it slowly.

The women disgruntledly stepped aside once she had read the warrant. Gail jerked her head, signalling the officers to enter the residence. Gail followed them inside, bringing up the rear. She had a few specific places she wanted to look. While the other officers started in the lounge and dining area Gail made a bee line for the kitchen, pulling on her blue latex free gloves as she went. She went straight to the fridge and pulled it open, scanning the shelves and the small cubicles in the door.

"Hmm," She frowned, turning to look over the rest of the kitchen. She spotted a small under counter bar fridge wedged in-between the door and a bin. She knelt down and opened it up. Inside she spotted what she was looking for, resting on the shelf were several vials of insulin, a tub of syringes and a few needles. She pulled out an evidence bag and bagged up her find, humming merrily to herself as she stood up.

She walked back into the T.V room where she had noted the mark on the carpet during her earlier visit to see Andy with one of the techs taking measurements of the clean square on the carpet and taking photo's with a proper scale. "Detective," she heard Chris call from outside, "you're going to want to come and see this."

Gail walked out into the back yard and turned to where Chris was standing. She looked past him to a stack of cinder blocks piled against the wall, it looked like they had been there for a while but what interested Gail was the gap in the stack. There were clearly 2 blocks missing and the blocks underneath appeared cleaner, as if they had never been exposed to the weather before. Gail smirked as she shoved her hands into her pockets and bounced on her toes, this was all starting to come together.

"There's more," Chris said, leading her around the corner of the house.

There, on a table by the kitchen door, lay a packet with something blue inside. Gail walked up to it and examined the torn outer packaging, she read the label out loud, "Industrial tarpaulin, 2 pack." She looked up at Chris, "Now correct me if I'm wrong officer Diaz, but I distinctly see only one industrial tarpaulin in this pack."

"You are one hundred percent on the mark there detective Peck." Chris said with a smile.

Gail strutted back towards the front door, "My work here is done." She said as she walked passed Chris, giving him a playful slap on the shoulder. "Slam Dunk Christopher, slam dunk!"

Chris chuckled, he loved this side of Gail.

II

Gail stood and watched Sophia Brandenburg through the one way glass, she looked calm. Gail wondered if she would be so calm if she knew how much circumstantial evidence Gail had pointing to her as her husbands murderer. She turned as McNally came through the door, giving her a curt nod. They stood in silence watching their suspect look around the interrogation room.

"I want you to question the daughter," Gail said suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence between them. Andy looked at Gail, this was big. Gail was a bit of a control freak so this, this was big.

She looked Gail in the eye, searching those cobalt eyes for a reason she was trusting her. Her eyes gave nothing away, Gail was in the zone. Andy just nodded and turned to leave once more.

Gail turned back to the glass, watching for a beat longer before moving toward the door to enter the interrogation room. Sophia looked up when she entered, Gail threw her a smile, hoping to maintain her calm behaviour from before. She was much more likely to volunteer evidence unknowingly if she didn't perceive the detective as a threat.

Gail sat across from her and picked up a remote, turning on the camera she spoke up, "This is detective Gail Peck, interviewing Mrs Sophia Brandenburg on the 15th of June 2014." Gail went ahead and read Sophia her rights before continuing.

Gail turned her attention back to Sophia, she smiled again. "Good morning Mrs Brandenburg, I hope you don't mind but its standard procedure for us to record all our interviews."

Sophia just nodded.

"So lets start at the beginning shall we," Gail said as she opened a writing pad and clicked her pen, "tell me about your day this past friday. As much as you can remember, any detail may be helpful to us."

"Well, we were up at around seven, Martin always gets up first. He went down stairs to get the coffee going while I finished up in the bathroom. We had breakfast with Maria before she headed out to work. She just got a job as a receptionist over at a printing company on Maxwell Drive. I took snow flake, our dog, out for his morning walk and Marty was pottering around in the garden when I left. When I got back I noticed Marty was in a bit of a mood, he got like that sometimes." Sophia said. She had started to worry the bottom of one of her sleeves, which didn't go unnoticed by Gail.

She looked up sheepishly as she started talking again, "He'd had a call from the bank while I was out. I may have been taking a little money out every month without him knowing." She looked down at her hands now. "Maria was in a little trouble when she lost her last job, she'd just bought a new car and now she couldn't afford the payments. I was helping her out." She sighed, "When I was younger I had a little bit of a gambling problem and Marty thought I'd gone back to it. He exploded, started throwing things around. Even smashed a bottle of red wine onto the carpet in the T.V room, I had to throw out the rug, couldn't get the stain out."

"He didn't even give me a chance to explain where the money went, grabbed the keys to his truck and disappeared. Like I said, he's a bit of a hot head ya know. This wasn't the first time it happened, normally he disappears for a few days till he calms down then he shows up again." She began to sniffle now, "Oh god, he's never going to turn up again is he." She began to out right sob at this point, making Gail squirm in the chair. She didn't like emotion, and this woman was about to get her sadness all over her.

"It's okay Mrs Brandenburg," Gail said, pushing a box of tissues over to the now apparently distraught woman. "We'll break for a bit to give you a minute to collect yourself, I'll be right back." The woman let out a whimper as Gail practically ran out the door.

Gail came out to find McNally on the other side of the one way glass. "So what does the daughter have to say for herself?" Gail asked.

Andy shrugged, "Their stories match up so far, she went off to work and when she got home her step father was nowhere to be seen."

"That didn't worry her at all?" Gail questioned.

"Nope, she backs her mother's story. Says he has disappeared a couple of times before. She figured they'd had a fight and he'd be back after the weekend." Andy replied.

Gail looked back through the glass, Mrs Brandenburg's sniffling had stopped just as quickly as it had started. "You ready for the fun part McNally?" Gail said as excitement sparked behind her blue eyes as she picked up a file off of the nearby desk.

Andy smiled, "Lets do it!"

III

Gail reentered the interrogation room with Andy not far behind. She flicked the record switch once more as she and Andy took their seats. "Mrs Brandenburg this is my colleague, officer McNally, you may remember her from our previous visit to your home?" Gail said as she opened the file in front of her. Sophia offered Andy a watery smile before turning her attention back to Gail.

Gail slid out a photo of the carpet Martin Brandenburg had been found wrapped in. She pushed it slowly across the table towards Sophia. "Do you recognise that rug Mrs Brandenburg?" She asked, watching the woman across from her as she stared at the picture. Gail saw something flicker behind the woman's eyes before it disappeared. The woman shook her head but didn't answer. Gail picked another photo, this time of the blue tarp, and pushed it over to sophia. "How about the blue tarp?" Gail questioned. Again the women shook her head, looking at Gail questioningly. She was met by unyielding cobalt staring back at her.

"That's funny you see, because I believe that both of these articles belonged to you or your husband." Gail said, her gaze unwavering. She tapped the two photos with her index finger, "When we found your husband out by the lake he was wrapped in the rug and tarpaulin."

As if on queue, Mrs Brandenburg began to sniffle again. Gail gave her a 'cut the crap' look and pushed on. "We found a two pack of tarpaulins, missing one tarp out near your kitchen door. Interestingly, the tarp found around your husband and the one at your house are the same brand." Gail let that information sink in before moving on.

She centred her attention onto the rug next, "The rug in this photo, it's measurements match the space on your T.V room floor perfectly. What a coincidence, wouldn't you say ma'am" Gail said, studying her suspect who had begun to wring her hands.

Next, Gail pulled out a photo of the cinderblocks found tied to Martin Brandenburg's feet as well as a photo of the stack of cinderblocks they found in the yard of the Brandenburg house and pushed them across the table toward Sophia. "The first two were found tied to a rope fastened to Martin's ankles, while this photo," Gail said tapping it, "this one comes from your home. Take a look at the stack, there are clearly two missing."

Sophia Brandenburg's demeanour had changed substantially since Gail and Andy had reentered the room. She was now sweating and appeared agitated as Gail started to spin her web. This was Gail's favourite part of an investigation, she was a born closer. She watched Sophia Brandenburg squirm across from her. Gail silently watched her, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms across her chest. The seconds ticked by, becoming long minutes. Gail saw the woman falter and took the opening. "Tell us what really happened."

Sophia Brandenburg broke down in front of them, once again Gail's eyes were soft, her posture open as she pushed the tissues forward a second time. She gave her a minute to blow her nose and wipe her eyes, waiting patiently for her to start talking.

"Everything happened exactly as I said it did, up until I left with the dog." She sniffed again, wringing the tissue between her hands. "Except when I got back Marty wasn't angry, I didn't even see him. I heard the T.V going and thought he'd settled down to watch his sport so I went upstairs to take a nap. I came down a few hours later and stuck my head in to see if he wanted a sandwich for lunch. When he didn't respond I walked up to him. Oh god," She whispered. "I shook him, and… And he didn't move. He just slouched forward and landed face down on the rug in front of the couch." She had begun to sob softly again. "I checked his pulse, nothing." She said, shaking her head vigorously as if to rid herself of the image. "He was already getting cold and stiff peripherally, I knew he was gone."

Gail watched the woman as she pulled another tissue from the box and dabbed at her face. "I think it was the insulin," she said softly. Gail's ears perked up, she hadn't mentioned her and Holly's theory about the insulin. "It's happened once before, he took a little too much without eating his breakfast and it pushed him into a hypo, scared me half to death that day."

"A hypoglycaemic state you mean?" Gail said to clarify. Sophia just nodded.

Andy, who had been quite the entire time Gail worked her magic asked a question for the first time since entering the room. "Sorry Mrs Brandenburg, but why didn't you just call an ambulance or the police at this stage?"

Sophia looked at McNally sheepishly, hesitating slightly before she began to speak. "You see officer, without my husbands' social security check every month Maria and I would be in trouble. Her new job doesn't pay much and I lost most of our nest egg on the ponies. We wouldn't have been able to afford the house or Maria's medical costs, you see she is a diabetic as well and it's already started to affect her eyes. So we thought if we could just keep getting the checks for a while until we figured stuff out we'd be okay."

Never once during that whole speech did Sophia look to Gail. Andy nodded sympathetically at the woman as she fixed her imploring gaze on the officer. "Tell us how you got his body out to the lake Mrs Brandenburg," Andy said softly, reaching out to touch the woman's hand encouragingly.

"When he fell from the couch I tried to move him but he is a lot bigger than I am so I wrapped him in the rug so that he would slide easier." She began. "I got him out to the garage and then rolled him up in the tarp. I had to cover his face, it felt like he was watching me you know?" She said to Andy who nodded as if she did. "I couldn't get him onto the truck alone, he was just too heavy. So I left him there in the garage on the floor." She let out a loud sob as she said the last sentence.

"It's okay Mrs Brandenburg," Andy said sympathetically as she patted her hand. "Do you think you can keep going?"

The woman nodded as her sobs quietened down again. "I went inside and waited for Maria to come home from work. I told her how I'd found him and I said we needed the money. I convinced her to help me get him onto the truck. Even between the two of us he was too heavy. So we threw a rope over the truck and tied the one end to his ankles and the other to the bumper of Maria's chevy. We used the car to pull him up a wooden ramp and onto the back of the truck. We drove out to the lake. I was planning on dumping him in the water but I couldn't get close enough and once he was off the truck we couldn't move him. I had to leave him at the waters edge. I drove home and Maria got her car, we dropped the track at a motel and went home. Thats the whole story" She said softly, now ripping the tissue in her hands into tiny pieces.

Gail kicked Andy under the table and stood suddenly. "We'll be right back ma'am," Gail said stepping towards the door. Andy followed her out, a bit confused.

Once outside the room Andy reached out to grab Gail's arm, "What is going on Gail?" She asked exasperatedly.

Gail narrowed her eyes. "That woman is lying to us McNally," She said pointing at Sophia through the glass. "She killed her husband and she wants us to believe it was some accident and she only dumped the body to get his social security. Bullshit!" Gail had begun to pace haphazardly until an idea took root. "Give me a minute," She said pulling out her phone.

IV

Holly's phone began to ring and drew her attention away from the report she had been busy reading. She eyed it with some confusion as it was a ring tone she didn't know she even had. She picked it up in the middle of the chorus of Tegan and Sara's 'Closer' and laughed out loud when she saw the name, Detective Awesome, flashing on her screen.

"Gail, when and how did you get into my phone? Its password protected." Holly said, the smile evident in her voice.

"Question for another time Nerd, I have an emergency only your brain can help me with right now." Gail said, sounding a bit harried.

"Okay shoot." Holly replied.

"When diabetics use insulin it comes in those little pens right? Like an epipen?" Gail asked.

"Yes, there are a few different types of pens on the market these days, they look different depending on the manufacturer and what type of insulin is in it, long acting versus short acting and so on. There is usually a dial of some sort on the side of the pens so the dosage can be set. Unless they are on insulin pumps, then they may have vials, but our victim was on oral medication and pens only according to his medical records." Holly rattled off.

"So doctors don't prescribe insulin in vials that need to be drawn up into syringes and injected unless the patient has an insulin pump?" Gail asked.

"I can't say I know of any physician who would prescribe insulin like that without the patient being on a pump. It is used in hospitals though." Holly said.

"You are a life saver nerd," Gail said.

Before Holly could even reply all she heard was a dial tone. She gave her phone an amused grin as she held it out in front of her. Gail had some explaining to do.

V

Andy had watched the one sided conversation with an ever increasing sense of confusion. Gail was off on one of her tangents again. Before she knew what was happening she was scampering along behind her as she headed back into the interrogation room.

Gail sat down across from a red eyed Sophia who looked rather drained. She opened up the file she held for what she hoped would be the last time. She selected three photos from the pile, placing them in a row on the table facing Mrs Brandenburg and kept a piece of paper with a typed version of Dr Stewart's toxicology report in front of herself. She let a few minutes pass in silence as the woman looked over the photos and then looked up at Gail questioningly.

"As we have established, your husband was an insulin dependent type II diabetic. I found his pen and oral meds in the left bed side cabinet in the master bedroom. But what I find very interesting are the vials of insulin I found in the bar fridge in your kitchen Mrs Brandenburg." Gail was silent as she let the woman stew for a while. She watched as her face tightened and she began to fidget once more. She brought her attention to the middle photo of a 10ml syringe in a trash can surrounded by empty vials of insulin, "I found this syringe in your trash this morning, it's at the lab as we speak. I'm betting we are going to find your fingerprints all over it and traces of insulin inside. Now I have it on very good authority that insulin wasn't prescribed for your husband in the form we found in your fridge." Gail let the silence work for her, building the suspense in the room.

She swept the tox screen across the table into Sophia's line of sight, "My lab confirmed that Mr Brandenburg had quite a high level of a prescription sleeping pill in his system. And lo and behold, it happens to be the same one we found in your medicine cabinet with your name on it. Now Mrs Brandenburg, I have a theory as to how this all played out but I think I'd like to hear yours." Gail sat back and arched an eyebrow skyward as she spread her hands palm up, inviting Sophia to start talking.

The woman let out an almighty sob and looked to Andy with pleading eyes, but where she saw sympathy before, there was nothing but disdain. "Either you tell us the truth willingly Ma'am or we could be sending you and your daughter away for a very long time because I will push for maximum sentencing if you don't cooperate." Gail said nonchalantly.

This seemed to break the back of any resistance Sophia still had left in her. The words began to pour from her mouth.

"I'll tell you everything but leave my daughter out of this. Everything I told you about her involvement is true". Gail nodded silently.

Sophia sighed, "He found out about the money. I'd been taking some out every month to help Maria after she lost her job, as I said earlier, she couldn't make the payments on her car. The bank called Marty after the last withdrawal. Apparently he had asked to be notified if larger withdrawals were made. When I came home from walking the dog he was waiting for me. I could tell he was angry. The minute I walk through the door he went ballistic, started accusing me of gambling all our money away. He wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. He'd already called his lawyer and had got the ball rolling on a divorce."

She got quite for a while, never making eye contact with the two women across from her. "Ma'am?" Andy prompted.

"You have to understand," she said as she locked onto Andy's gaze. "Without him, I had nothing. Nothing! All our assets are in his name, the house, both cars, everything!" She lashed out, slamming her fist down into the steal table. "I would have lost everything. He said he'd changed his will to exclude us because of the gambling." She sniffed, and took a few deep breaths. "I'd started picking up a shift here and there in the E.R at Saint Jude's, mostly half days, just helping out when someone needed a shift off. So when he sat down in front of the T.V I slipped out to the hospital. I pretended to have left something behind after my last shift, I took the insulin out of the drugs fridge and headed home. It took me less than five minutes. When I got back I made him a cup of coffee and put several of my sleeping tablets in it. I offered it to him under the pretence of a peace offering. When he fell asleep on the couch I drew up the insulin and injected him with it, straight into the fat vein in his right cubital fossa. He was so out of it he didn't even move when the needle went in."

She scratched at the scarred table top, finding something there very intriguing all of a sudden. "And the rest is exactly how I described, from rolling him onto the rug to leaving him at the lake." She grew quite then, slowly folding her arms over her chest as she shrugged. Still refusing to look at Gail.

Gail snapped her notebook shut, "Officer McNally will explain what will happen next and take you through to holding." Gail waited for the woman to look up to her before she continued, "Thank you for your candour Mrs Brandenburg, your cooperation will be taken into account." The woman gave Gail a solitary nod before looking away.

Gail whipped out her phone as she exited the room, "Drinks on me, 20h00, the Black Penny. Don't be late." She typed out and hit send. A smile crossed her face. She had just closed her first homicide and damn it felt good.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay between chapters but things got a bit hectic at work over the last two weeks and it's been a little difficult to write. Fortunately I have managed to whip something up for you. :) As we all know, all the characters of Rookie blue belong to Tassie Cameron et al, I'm just borrowing them to tell a little story. As always, thanks for the reviews and PM's, they inspire me to write so keep them coming please. A special thanks to GleeSavedMe for an important heads up. And without further ado... :)

**Chapter 4**

**I**

Gail entered the Black Penny and immediately started to scan the room. It was full for a wednesday night. The noise of raucous laughter reaching her ears as she stood just inside the doors. Her eyes skimmed over Chris, Andy and Dov, already nestled into their usual table. She looked down at her watch, it had been a gift from Steve when she made Detective, it made her lips twitch into an almost smile. Her brother knew her well. The clean cut stainless steel trim and the black dial of the Breitling aeromarine colt was a look Gail loved. It was 20h05 and no sign of Holly. Gail felt a small niggle of disappointment settle within her. If she had been anywhere else other than a crowded bar she probably would have started to overanalyse why it bothered her so but Chris had caught sight of her and was now calling her name and waving his hands above his head like a mad man.

She rolled her eyes at his antics and began weaving through the crowed towards her people. A whistle went up as she drew nearer. "Give it up for detective extraordinaire! Gaaiiiil Peck everybody!" Dov shouted as a few whoops emanated from around the table with a smattering of applause. Gail looked around and couldn't help but mirror the grins she saw aimed at her.

"Yeah, yeah. Take it easy losers, we all already know I'm awesome." She said as she swaggered the last few steps toward the table.

Andy sniggered and coughed a "whatever" into her hand while Chris crushed Gail into his side in a one armed hug.

"Watch it McNally I know where you live," Gail said narrowing her eyes at Andy who looked innocently back at her.

In all the frivolity she hadn't seen the brunette pathologist enter the bar and begin to make her way over to their table, the first inkling she had of her presence was when she heard her voice from behind her left shoulder. "Officers," Holly said, a smile evident in her voice, "I hope I'm not interrupting."

It sent a rush through Gail's body, she could feel the goosebumps erupting on her arms as she heard her speak. Gail turned towards her, unable to keep the grin off of her face. "Not at all Dr Stewart, please join us." Gail motioned to the empty stool to her right, which Holly graciously slipped onto. The others around the table greeted her warmly and introduced themselves.

Gail stood quickly, looking around the table, "Alright minions," she paused, "and Dr Stewart. I solemnly declare my first case closed, drinks are on me." A few more whoops filtered into the air as Gail turned toward the bar to buy the first round.

She settled her elbows onto the bar and raised her hand to the bar keep signalling her intent. She noticed that Chloe and Nick had also joined their group at the tables in the corner. Everyone seemed to be including Holly into their conversations which made Gail smile, she like the fact that the woman fit into any group so effortlessly. It was a skill that Gail herself had not mastered.

She turned as Chris settled at her opposite elbow. "Thought you may need a hand carrying the drinks back." He said as he started moving the beers the bartender had begun to set down in front of Gail towards himself. Gail paid for there drinks and started to make her way back to their table when she noticed Chris dawdling.

"Spit it out," she said as she turned back to him, "I can tell you want to say something."

Chris looked back over her shoulder toward their friends, he shuffled his feet a bit before beginning to speak. "Well I was just wondering you know, seeing as you've been around the morgue a lot over the last few days…" He trailed off, finding his shoe laces suddenly fascinating. "I was kinda thinking about asking Dr Stewart to dinner. Seeing as you know her a little better, do you think she'd like something like that? You know, do you think she would like me?" Chris looked up at Gail, not quite sure if he had done the right thing by talking to her about this stuff. He was met by a highly amused look.

Gail was trying hard to suppress the laugh that was threatening to bubble out of her throat as she looked at Chris in all his puppy dog glory. She sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Chris I'm sorry to have to say this but I don't think you are really her type."

She saw the hurt flood his face, "Did she say something about me? Was it something I did at the crime scene?" He asked worriedly.

Gail shook her head, thinking for a minute, "You have certain… appendages, that she doesn't fancy very much."

Chris's face was immediately stricken as he lifted his hands to his ears and groaned, "It's because my ears are too big isn't it. I can't help that the one is higher than the other, I was born that way!" The whine evident in his voice.

This time Gail couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped her. She never knew Chris was self conscious about his ears, frankly she couldn't see anything wrong with them. "No Chris, it has nothing to do with your ears. In fact your ears are pretty perfect." Gail said, chuckling as she turned away from him.

"So it's my nose then, or my fingers." He started to randomly list body parts. Gail wondered how long it would take him to come up with the right answer but she'd had enough of his rambling and placed a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"You know what, on second thought you might be just right for her. You two could ramble on blissfully together, god knows you are both good at it." Chris looked confused but then smiled at Gail's encouragement. She knew she was setting him up for certain failure but she couldn't help herself, this could be moderately entertaining to watch. And she had tried to be a good friend and warn him off, it wasn't her fault that he couldn't take a hint.

**II**

Holly had stealthily been watching the blonde out of the corner of her eye and half heartedly listening to Chloe's chirpy rendition of how her day had been, boy could this woman talk. She watched as Gail and Chris returned to the group, arms laden with beer bottles. Frowning when Gail took the seat across from her at the table instead of the one she had vacated when she went to get the drinks.

Gail smirked as her, eyes flicked between Chris and an unsuspecting Holly. Holly saw the look on Gail's face and narrowed her eyes at her through her glasses, that look made her nervous, she was definitely up to something. Holly gave her a questioning look but all she got in return was a shrug from the blonde and a raised eyebrow.

Chris plopped down into the seat next to Holly and smiled at her sheepishly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks as he tried a little small talk with her. Gail saw the moment when realisation struck Holly, it hadn't taken her long. The brunette turned her attention to Gail who now had a look of absolute glee on her face as Chris began to stumble over his words with nervousness. She gave the blonde a withering look that was answered with the most innocent expression Gail could muster.

Gail's people watching was interrupted by Dov asking some nonsensical question about a trivia game. She turned and gave him the evil eye which effectively shut him up quickly enough for her to turn back towards Chris and Holly just in time to hear him stutter out his feeble attempt at asking her to dinner.

Holly reached out and placed her hand on his arm, "Chris, you seem like a lovely guy and I'm extremely flattered that you would like to have dinner with me but I'm going to have to decline." He looked at her bewilderedly, as she pushed her glasses back up her nose. "You see if I said yes it may give you the wrong idea and I'd really like for us to be friends." She said, patting his arm gently.

"Is it because of my ears?" Chris blurted out, looking intently at Holly who seemed very confused by the question.

Gail was holding her breath trying not to laugh as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"No Chris, I'm gay," Holly said, smiling at him and giving his arm another reassuring pat. She watched his face as something seemed to slot into place in his mind.

He let out a breath and narrowed his eyes at Gail, "You are a dick."

By this time the whole table was watching the scene in front of them. Not quite sure what was going on.

Gail burst out laughing at his poor choice of words.

"You knew didn't you?" Chris said. "You knew she was gay and you still let me ask her out."

Gail was still laughing when she shrugged, "I tried to warn you but you wouldn't listen."

Holly was trying hard to keep the mirth off her face as she turned to Chris, "You are right, she is a dick". She said, "And if I weren't gay I would totally date you Chris, because you are a hottie. It's my loss that I'm not into your hotness but I'm sure that there are plenty of girls out there who are. Give me a call if you ever need a wing man." She winked at Chris as he blushed and puffed out his chest at her words.

Gail smiled at how effortlessly Holly had turned the situation around and made Chris feel good about himself. She watched as Holly stood and excused herself, making her way towards the bathrooms. Chris, it seemed had made a full recovery from his somewhat embarrassing public moment and was now playing a game of darts with Dov and Nick. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and removed it to see a message lighting up her screen. Nerd: "You are evil" was all it said. She smirked as she typed out her reply.

Holly was standing in front of the mirror fixing her hair when Gail's reply came through, it simply read, "You know you love it". She couldn't stop the lop sided smile that crept onto her face. Was Gail actually flirting with her? She'd have to test the waters because it sure felt like it.

**III**

By the time Holly made it back from the bathroom Gail had migrated back to the seat she had occupied earlier in the evening, her hand was resting possessively over the back of Holly's stool, as if to discourage anyone from claiming it. Gail turned toward her as Holly slipped back into her seat, a slow smile creeping onto her face. She opened her mouth to say something when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her from behind causing Gail to stiffen at first until she caught the unmistakable scent of her brother's cologne.

Holly watched as Gail seemed to relax into the handsome, grinning man behind her. Her stomach twisted and a frown started to appear without her permission before she caught herself. Wait, was that a pang of jealousy? Holly groaned internally. She was in so much trouble. She studied Gail as she swatted at the arms that were now wrapped around her waist.

"Steven! What have I told you about my personal space? If it wasn't for your vile cologne you'd be on the floor right now whimpering like a baby." Gail said with mock loathing. Gail would adamantly deny it but she truly loved the man behind her and she knew that he loved her. She also knew, even if she only admitted it to herself, that he was the only person in the world that she had ever loved and loved her back unconditionally. She often wondered if that was just sad.

Steve chuckled behind her and Gail felt the timber of his voice through her back when he spoke, "So what are you going to do about it? Tell mom on me?"

Holly's frown deepened as her eyes flicked between the two, taking in their appearances. Pale skin, bright blue eyes and the smirk on Steve's face looked exactly like the one she'd seen earlier as Gail watched Chris embarrass himself. She let out a small laugh as it dawned on her, siblings. She chastised herself for jumping to conclusions earlier as both Gail and Steve's attention now fell to her.

Gail narrowed her eyes, "Don't encourage him Stewart, if we are going to be friends you should know I expect 100 percent back up with all things Peck related. Trust me on this."

Gail heard Steve snort as he stepped out behind her, his full attention now on the brunette in front of him. He appraised her carefully before thrusting out his hand toward her, "Steve Peck," he said with a grin that Holly suspected had melted many a female heart, "the older, much cooler, and definitely better looking Detective Peck."

Holly returned his smile as she shook his hand. "Older, definitely. You can see it around the eyes. Cooler, I'm not so sure about." She said as she watched a look of confusion cross Steve's face. She pointed down to his foot that was resting on one of the lower treads on her barstool waiting for his eyes to follow, "I believe you are wearing two different coloured socks detective."

Holly smiled innocently up at him as Chris gave Steve a pat on the shoulder. "Come on man, you don't have a chance anyway. Let me buy you a drink."

As Chris led Steve away to the bar Holly was met by a positively beaming smile from Gail. "I knew I liked you for a reason."

Holly laughed, she was pretty sure she was now blushing. Thank God for her olive complexion and poor lighting in this place.

**IV**

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter and pleasant conversation, if nothing else, Holly was sure that she had made at least one or two new friends tonight. Gail had been attentive, she had included her in all their conversations and made sure she had a drink in front of her at all times. Her hand had even made its way onto Holly's back or elbow on several occasions, making her breath hitch at every small touch. She was starting to wonder if she had been reading the signals Gail had been giving her properly or if her brain was being tainted by the alcohol in her system.

She shook her head as she filled a glass with water from the pitcher in the middle of the table and took a few big swallows. She looked down at her watch to see that it had gotten rather late without her even noticing. She had to be in to work early tomorrow, she sighed and turned to Gail who was in deep conversation with Andy about something or other. Her hand still resting on the back of Holly's stool. Holly smiled and watched her for a moment before placing her hand on Gail's forearm to get her attention.

"I have to go Detective," She said as she began to stand and gather her bag and jacket. "I have an early day tomorrow."

Gail stood, "Did you drive?" She asked as she picked up her own jacket and keys.

Holly shook her head no, "Good thing too," she said, "I think I'm a little over the limit."

"I'll drive you," Gail said taking one last sip from her glass.

Holly raised an eyebrow and looked from Gail to the drink that now sat on the table. Gail rolled her eyes and passed the glass to Holly who sniffed it skeptically and then took a tentative sip. "Water?" She said surprised.

"Yip" Gail said, popping the P loudly. "I drew the short straw, I'm the designated driver tonight for those three losers," she said pointing to where Chris, Dov and Chloe we trying very hard to play a game of pool. All were failing miserably as it seemed their depth perception had been vastly diminished by the alcohol in their systems. "I'll come back for them once I've dropped you off."

With that said, Holly found Gail's warm hand once again on the small of her back directing her toward the exit.

Gail led her toward a new looking silver SUV, opening the passenger side door for her. Holly smiled, Gail was chivalrous, who would have guessed. She thanked her and hopped up into the plush leather seat and waited for Gail to round the vehicle and hop in. Holly reached for the radio as Gail began to back out of the lot only to have her hand swatted away.

Gail smirked at Holly, "No one fiddles with the radio in this car unless they have explicit permission."

Gail threw her phone into Holly's lap, "Go on then, pick a song."

Holly smiled sheepishly at Gail as she scrolled through her music library, hitting play when she found the MS MR album, Secondhand Rapture. She hummed in appreciation as Dark Doo Wop began to play. She closed her eyes and set her head back against the headrest as she began to hum along, a smile on her face.

She opened her eyes when she realised the vehicle had come to a stop a while ago and had not moved since. She looked over at Gail who had been watching her with a look that she couldn't place. She looked away and blushed, focusing on what was outside the passenger side window. she frowned, they were sat outside her apartment building. She thought for a minute but couldn't remember giving Gail her address. She turned back to the blonde who was still watching her. "How did you…" She trailed off.

"Detective remember." Gail said with a smirk.

Holly chuckled, opening the door. The cool air that rushed in immediately sobered her. "You are insane, you know that right?" Gail just shrugged, still looking intently at Holly.

Holly's brown eyes locked onto the cobalt blues across from her at that moment and it felt as if all the air had been sucked from her lungs. Before she even knew what she was doing her hand reached out, her thumb tracing over Gail's warm cheek. The next thing she knew her lips were on the blonde's. Just a soft brush before she pulled back and got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride Detective," she said softly before closing the door and turning away, making her way towards her building.

Gail felt Holly's thumb trace across her cheek, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Her world was moving in slow motion as the brunette's lips made contact with her own. The goose bumps were back, she felt them stand to attention over her entire body as those delicious lips brushed against her own. The next thing she knew Holly was out of the car, walking away from her. She frowned and sat for another split second before her body caught up with her mind and she reached to open the door.

She jogged up behind Holly, reaching for her arm as she began to open the door to her building. The brunette had been in such a daze that she hadn't heard Gail approaching. She jumped when she felt fingers wrap around her wrist, forcing her to turn. The look in Gail's eyes making her heart pound so loudly she swore the blonde could hear it.

Gail's free hand found its way underneath her jacket and came to rest on Holly's hip, pulling their bodies together. The electricity was back, Holly felt it rushing through her body from everywhere that she was touching Gail.

Gail dropped Holly's wrist and replaced the hand on her cheek, searching Holly's eyes for something, something that she obviously found as her lips came to rest against Holly's. Tentatively at first but gaining confidence when the involuntary moan left Holly's throat and reverberated against her lips. She pushed into Holly with her hips and pulled her closer with the hand that had now moved from her cheek and into her hair.

Holly's world spun as she felt Gail's tongue trace over her bottom lip, begging for entry. She opened her lips and sucked Gail in. She tasted a little of spearmint and cherry, it was the most intoxicating thing Holly had ever tasted.

When they pulled apart they were both breathing heavily and Holly felt a little wobbly on her feet, moderately unsure if her legs would continue to hold her up. Gail smirked at her as she took a step back, back tracking slowly away from her as she shoved her hands into her pockets. "Good night Dr Stewart," she finally said as she turned and jogged back to the SUV which was still running with its driver side door standing open.

Holly didn't hear the "wow" that Gail uttered as she got into the car or see the smile on her lips as she drove away, she was far to busy trying to get her legs to listen to her brain and move into the door of her building beside her.

Once she was sure her legs would carry her she pushed through the door into her building, she looked up to see a lascivious grin on the concierge's face as he looked her over. She blushed as she realised that there was a camera at the front door and he had probably witnessed what had just happened with Gail outside just a moment ago. She began to blush, "Bobby," she greeted softly as she ducked her head in embarrassment and walked passed him to the elevators.

"Dr Stewart," He greeted with an overly large grin gracing his pudgy face.

Holly blew out the breath she was holding as the doors closed, blocking Bobby and his grin from her view. She lent back against the wall of the elevator and touched her lips which were still tingling from her encounter with Gail. She groaned, bloody hell that woman could kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello all, finally an update for you. :) As we all know I do not own the Rookie Blue characters, they are just helping me tell my little story. Thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews. Every single one makes me smile so keep them coming. Just a reminder, I am not Canadian so any references to places etc may sound odd to locals so please bear with me. Input and corrections are much appreciated so send me a shout out if something sounds strange to you. So please enjoy and feel free to let me know what you think.

**Chapter 5**

**I**

It had been three days since drinks at the Penny. Three days since Gail had ambushed her outside her building and kissed her as if her life depended on it. Three days since Holly had seen or heard from Gail at all. Normally the radio silence would irk her but for some reason she couldn't explain, she knew Gail would be back. It may also have had something to do with the single red rose she found on her desk the morning after the incident. She looked over at it now as it sat in the small vase on the edge of her desk, it had opened fully and had begun to fill the room with a rather delicately beautiful scent that made Holly smile.

She was pulled from her daydreaming when her chief stuck his mop of grey hair through her door. "Stewart, the coppers found a body up in Lawrence Park, none of the others are in yet and I want my best girl up there anyway." He said, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.

Holly took one last look at the rose before standing to collect her jacket and keys. She had to get in the game mentally, Lawrence Park was no joke. With all the money up there she wouldn't be surprised if the mayor got involved in this case, needless to say she wasn't a fan of politics or the idea of being in the lime light.

**II**

Holly had to park almost a block away from the address Tony had passed to her on the way out, the streets were congested with patrol cars and camera vans alike. The place was a hive of activity as she made her way toward the house. She wondered if every news network in Canada had sent a crew out this morning. She scanned the area in front of the house looking for a place to cross under the police tape. Spotting an officer she didn't recognise she decided that was as good a place as any. None of the reporters seemed to be interested in her thank goodness, being new to the medical examiners office sure had its perks.

She approached the officer standing idly near the tape looking bored and gave him a smile and flashed her badge at him. Her eyes dropped to his name tag, "Good morning officer Moore, I'm Dr Stewart from the ME's office. Do you think you could point me in the direction of the crime scene." She said. She watched his face contort and he looked a little green around the gills, clueing her in to why he had been relegated to patrolling the boundary. She made a note to never let him near any of her autopsies.

He pointed out the front door, "The body is in the kitchen Ma'am." He said, trying to suppress a dry heave.

Holly merely nodded and started making her way across the lawn and up the front steps of the two storey Georgian style house. She walked in through the large front door into an expansive foyer and surveyed the area, spotting Chloe as she approached from the hallway ahead of her.

"Dr Stewart," she greeted her warmly with a smile, "If you'll follow me I'll take you through to the body. The victim has been identified as Catherine Sullivan, 73. She was a widow, lived in this big old house all on her lonesome. Her husband, Charles Sullivan, the well known media mogul, passed away about two years ago. Left her everything, last I heard she was worth about $200 million. Well, according to the tabloids at least."

Holly almost had to jog to keep up with the small red head as she spoke, she wondered if this woman ever ran out of energy or stopped talking for that matter. They rounded a corner and entered an enormous kitchen, something Holly could definitely appreciate. She loved cooking, it was like therapy for her. Her best creations came after a particularly difficult case. She would come home and just get lost in the food she was preparing. Her younger sister, Emma, often jokingly referred to her as Nigella. Not that she ever complained about being fed Holly's creations.

Her eyes swept over the rows of copper pots hanging above the gas stove and around to the breakfast nook to her left with an expansive view of the beautiful gardens. As she rounded the island in the middle of the kitchen a pair of feet and a drying blood pool came into view, followed shortly by the view of a certain blonde detective kneeling next to the body. She had a pen in hand and was using it to move the victims shirt away from her face.

Holly couldn't stop the smile that snuck onto her face. "Messing with my evidence seems to be becoming a habit for you detective." She said as she set her kit down and approached the body, camera in hand.

Gail rose from her crouch giving Holly a grin, "You know me doc, patience isn't one of my virtues. Can't wait around for you all day."

Traci Nash stood and watched the exchange between the two women, she flinched, waiting for Gail to give the Forensic Pathologist a verbal thrashing after that comment. She frowned when she actually saw Gail smile at her. Were they bantering? Traci was terribly confused. She looked around to see if anyone else was watching this. She crept over to Chloe who had been watching the two interact with a smile on her face.

"Price, I think my partner has been abducted by aliens and replaced with a robot." Nash whispered out of the corner of her mouth as she watched Gail actually laugh at something the Doctor had said and touch her arm. Gail never touched anyone. This was so weird, she felt like she was in the twilight zone.

Chloe giggled, "That's Dr Stewart, the new M.E. She and Gail are friends."

Traci did a double take. "Gail doesn't make friends Chloe, we only love her because we've known her for years and have learnt how to deal with her special definition of friendship."

Chloe shrugged, looking back at the two as Holly walked around the body pointing out things to Gail who seemed to be listening intently. "They look like friends to me." She said.

Traci narrowed her eyes and watched the pair. Gail was watching the pathologist as she worked and there was something strange in her eyes that Traci just couldn't explain. She shook her head, she'd ask Gail about it later. She decided now was a good time to go find the maid who had found the body and get a more thorough statement from her.

Holly moved around the victim carefully, avoiding the pooling blood and taking in the scene. What she saw was an elderly, frail looking woman sprawled out on the kitchen floor. She took note of her perfectly coiffed hair and make up. This woman took care of herself. Her nails had been done recently. Her outfit was made up of a combination of designer labels that all looked reasonably new. Her blouse was bunched up under her arms and was torn down the one side, exposing her belly. The skirt she had on was also torn and pushed up, Holly notice her underwear at an angle half way down her thighs. She didn't like the look of this, everything she was seeing pointing to a violent death and possibly a sexual assault as well. Her eyes flicked up to meet Gail's who nodded, as if reading her mind.

Holly talked as she worked, pointing things out to Gail. She knelt along side the body and moved the shirt. "We have a stab wound here in the epigastrium, and another in the right hypochondrium. Looks like its from the same knife judging by the shape of the wounds. She's got several extensive contusions across her abdomen and face, telling me she was probably beaten quite severely before she died. There is a large periorbital haematoma around her right eye and a deep laceration over her bottom lip, all caused by blunt trauma," Holly stuck a gloved finger into Catherine Sullivan's open mouth, "and a few loose teeth," she said, retracting her hand.

Gail pulled a face when Holly's fingers disappeared into the victim's mouth, the gesture not going unnoticed by the pathologist who smirked up at her. "Feeling a little squeamish there Detective?" She asked.

Gail shook her head, "I just don't like people's mouths." She pulled another face, "Saliva and poor oral hygiene freak me out. It's a good thing my mother never had any designs on me being a dentist."

Holly chuckled, she didn't want to point out that Gail seemed to have no problem with her mouth or her saliva the other night. She turned her attention back to the victim, taking a closer look at the woman's left arm. "Our girl was a fighter," she said, motioning for Gail to come take a closer look. "She has defensive wounds on her hands and forearms," Holly said, pointing out the slash wounds of different sizes and depths, "and it feels like she has an underlying ulnar fracture here in her right forearm." She rolled the arm, exposing a deep bruise on the fleshy underside.

Gail leaned in, "Wait, is that a hand print?" she asked as she eyed the contusion.

Holly nodded as she began to examine the victim's right hand. She noticed that one of the newly manicured nails was broken and a few others were chipped. "I think she may have scratched her attacker pretty badly, we have a good chance of getting epithelials here for a DNA comparison." She said, bagging both hands as she spoke.

She reached into her kit and grabbed the thermometer to get a liver temperature. She also noted down the ambient temperature in the room so she could calculate time of death as accurately as possible. She stood and nodded to her techs to let them know she was done and walked to the side of the scene with Gail.

"What are your impressions Doc?" Gail asked as she watched the techs get to work.

Holly mulled it over for a while before answering, "I think her attacker startled her, hit her in the face first, giving that eye time to swell up. Maybe he wanted information from her and he beat her to get it. My guess is this had something to do with money." Holly shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets before continuing. "By the amount of blood around the body I'd put my money on exsanguination as the cause of death. With the temperature of the room and the body as well as the state of the blood on the floor around her I'd say she's been dead maybe 8-10 hours. That's an estimation of course, I will be able to tell you more once I've had a better look at the body back at the lab."

Gail began to walk Holly out to her car. She'd been quite since they left the body, scenes from the night 3 days ago playing through her mind, making her lips tingle and her heart beat faster. She'd been walking really close to Holly without even noticing, their arms brushing as they walked. She opened her mouth to say something when her name being called stopped her. She turned to see Traci coming toward them.

Holly smiled at her, "I'll see you around detective," she said as she ducked under the tape and disappeared into the crowd. Gail was caught in two minds, she knew she should head back to Traci but at the same time she had this intense desire to ask Holly to dinner. She worried that if she didn't do it now she may lose her nerve all together.

She took two steps toward Traci, "Trace I need you to hold that thought, I forgot to ask the Doc something super important. I'll be back in just a sec." And with that she ducked under the tape and jogged off in the direction that Holly had walked in.

Traci stood there watching Gail as she disappeared from her sight, she opened her mouth to say something but realising it was too late she shook her head and turned to go inside the house and wait for Gail to return. She was definitely being totally weird today.

Gail caught up to Holly as she was stowing her gear in the trunk of her car. The doctor looked up and gave her one of her patented lop sided grins. "Forget something Detective," she asked, leaning against the car.

Gail looked left, then right before stepping into Holly's personal space and reaching for her hand, her fingers grazing the outside of Holly's little finger before retracting. Even the slightest touch sent her heart racing. She looked up into Holly's big brown eyes and took a deep breath. "I um…" Gail cleared her throat and grinned sheepishly as a blush crept up her cheeks. It was absolutely the cutest thing Holly had ever seen. Gail dropped her gaze and tried again, "I was wondering if you would have dinner with me sometime this week." She said, looking up again, chancing a look at Holly's face.

"How's Thursday," Holly replied, not caring that she answered so quickly that Gail would know how much she wanted to spend time with her.

Gail's smile widened noticeably, "Perfect." She said. Her hand reaching out for Holly's again, this time lingering a little longer as she pulled at Holly's little finger before stepping back and turning to go. "I'll see you at the morgue later nerd." She threw over her shoulder as she walked back to the crime scene with a bit more spring in her step.

Holly leaned on her car and watched the blonde walk away. She smirked to herself, she already hated it when Gail had to leave her company. Did that make her selfish? The only good thing about watching the blonde walking away from her was the view, Gail's bum was absolutely delicious. Holly snapped out of her trance and bit her lip, looking around to see if anyone had notice her ogling the Detective. Luckily, everyone was far to busy to notice.

**III**

Traci watched Gail through the window as she ducked back under the tape and made her way across the lawn. Gail was still smiling, "What the hell?" Traci mumbled. When Gail came through the door she was humming to herself, Traci narrowed her eyes and poked at the blonde's arm, "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my partner?" She said, still half scowling at Gail.

Gail rubbed her arm vigorously, "Ow, jesus Trace. What the hell?" She scowled right back at Traci who immediately grinned.

"There she is." Traci proclaimed. "I was starting to wonder if you had been abducted by aliens and a Stepford wife had been returned in your place. I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much in your life as you have this morning. What's the deal with you and the doc?" Traci asked.

Gail scrutinised Traci through narrowed eyes, trying to decide how much to tell her. They had been close since Jerry's death, well as close as Gail would allow anyway. She decided to keep her budding feelings for Holly to herself for now. Hell, she didn't even know what this was yet. She knew that the fact that Holly was a girl wouldn't faze Traci in the least but she needed a little time to just figure it out for herself. Unlike Andy or Chloe, Gail wasn't the type to feel the need to verbalise every single thought that went on in her head.

"Holly is a friend. We met on the Brandenburg case. She's new in town, I invited her to have drinks with us at the Penny when we closed the case. She's kind of nerdy, but not a totally awful person." Gail shrugged. "Why don't we do a walk through, consolidate what we know so far." Gail said, turning away from Traci and heading back to the kitchen that was now body-free.

Traci followed in silence, she knew there was more to the story than Gail was telling her but she decided to drop it, pushing her now would just lead to a total lock down and probably grumpiness too, which Traci could do without right now.

Gail called Chloe over, she and Moore had been the first responders earlier this morning and she wanted to know exactly how they found the house. "So walk me through what you guys found when you got here." Gail said with her hands on her hips.

"Officer Moore and I were on patrol in the area when we heard the call to this address, due to our close proximity we were the first to arrive on scene. We were met at the front door by Mrs Harriet Walsh, who identified herself as being under the employment of the lady of the house. She was rather distraught and took us through to the kitchen where we saw the body. I immediately directed officer Moore to take Mrs Walsh through to the sitting room while I went to check the victim for signs of life, of which there were none. The body already felt cold to the touch. I immediately radioed in the 10-45 and called for back up, after which Officer Moore and I cleared the premises and set up a boundary. I waited with the body until our back up arrived, then I interviewed Mrs Walsh and that's pretty much when you guys showed up." Chloe said. "Oh and when we were clearing the house we noticed that the master bedroom had been turned upside down too. Found an empty jewellery box lying on the floor, looks like our perp cleaned it out."

"Thanks Chloe," Traci said, "I also had a chat with Mrs Walsh. She has been a maid in the Sullivan household for the past 20 years. She is a widow herself and has a 12 year old daughter who she goes home to every evening." Traci paused and checked her notes, "She says she left the house last night at around 18:30 and stopped at her sisters place at around 19:00 to pick up her daughter, they stopped at Mc Donald's for some dinner then headed home. I sent Collins over to the sister's place to check out the time line. She came in at eight this morning, like she does every other morning to find the back door unlocked and the alarm unarmed. Which she reported as very strange because Mrs Sullivan was always very security conscious. Only herself, Mrs Sullivan and the two Sullivan children knew the alarm code and had keys to the house."

"Anybody been in touch with the kids yet?" Gail asked.

"Chris called Mrs Sullivan's daughter, Meredith Witlow, she lives in an apartment down town with her husband Sean. Both are out of town at the moment at some conference in Los Angeles, they are plastic surgeons. The son, Charles Jnr, is apparently in Europe on business, he is an investment banker. We have been unable to reach him as yet." Chloe replied. "Chris will verify their whereabouts and make sure they were all where they claimed to be over the last 24 hours."

"Good work Chloe," Gail said with a nod. She and Traci then turned their attention to the crime scene techs, Simon Sanders was heading up the geek squad today. Unfortunately for Gail the man just did not like her. She groaned, "Oh joy. Sanders is all yours Trace, if I go anywhere near him we won't get anything from forensics until next week."

Traci chuckled, "I still don't know why he hates you so much, what the hell did you do to him anyway?"

"Nothing!" Gail said. Traci looked at her skeptically. "Seriously Trace, I don't know, maybe he has a thing against blondes, or Pecks, or a combination of the above."

"Mmm hmm," Traci hummed as she made her way over to Simon as the balding, slightly overweight man watched over his team. "Mr Sanders, hello." Traci greeted him with a smile that the older man returned.

"Detective Nash," Simon said with a nod, "What can I do for you?"

"Well I was sort of hoping you could give me a run down of what your guys have found so far, if it's not too much trouble." Traci said, with another mega watt smile aimed at Simon.

He looked over Traci's shoulder at Gail who had snuck a little closer to eavesdrop. She immediately became very interested in something on one of the pages of her note-book secretly praying that he would just ignore her. Which, thankfully, he promptly did.

He walked Traci over to the back door, "We think that this was the killer's point of entry. The killer surprised Mrs Sullivan as she opened the door, hitting her in the face and causing the periorbital heamatoma and the split lip." He pointed down to a few drops of blood on the floor near where they stood. "Low velocity passive spatter. Probably from blood dripping from her nose. You can see by the shape of the spatter that she was moving back into the house from the door." He moved back into the kitchen to an up turned chair near the breakfast nook. "This is probably where the bulk of her beating took place, there was some medium velocity spatter up on the wall there to the right of the chair. She took quite a severe beating."

Simon knelt and pulled a few evidence baggies from his kit and passed them to Traci, "Those were found on the kitchen table over there along with a rather expensive bottle of Scotch."

Traci examined the pieces of paper in the bags, "These are ATM slips."

"Spot on detective," He said, "they are time stamped too. These first two are from 21:36, if you look closely both are for rejected transactions. But this one right here," he said, pointing to the last slip, "is from 22:24, $5000 was successfully withdrawn from the account." Next he picked up the whiskey bottle, "Seems our guy also has a taste for expensive whiskey. Since I don't see a tumbler around here I think he took a few swigs straight from the bottle. Which is good for us because that puts his saliva on the mouth of the bottle. We also notice a print on the bottom of the bottle. He was smart enough to wipe everything he touched, but he forgot the bottom of the bottle."

"That's great work Simon," Traci beamed at him, "With a little luck this guy could be in the system then we can nail his arse."

**IV**

Gail and Traci split up once they got back to the station. Gail had volunteered to head to the morgue to see if Dr Stewart had found anything helpful for them while Traci opted to run point at the station and put the officers to work.

Gail had stopped at Pedro's on the way over and picked up a box full of apple danishes and two cups of coffee. She sauntered into the morgue and nodded to Tony who greeted her warmly. "Ah little Peck! Back again I see. If you are looking for the doc she's up in her office. I heard you caught the dead rich lady up in Lawrence Park?" He said, eyeing the pastry box in her hand.

"Yip, working it with detective Nash." Gail said as she opened the box and let Tony help himself.

"Good luck with that," Tony said around a gooey mouthful. "The phones have been ringing all morning, the press are going crazy with this."

"Thanks Tony," Gail said as she left him to munch his danish and made her way up the stairs.

When she reached the office Gail saw Holly was once again immersed in something on her laptop. She was so wrapped up she hadn't even noticed Gail in her doorway until the pastry box landed on her desk, making her jump.

She looked up at Gail who had an amused look on her face. "If you weren't a Detective you'd sure make a good cat burglar." Holly said, leaning back in her chair.

"Stealth is an important part of the job Holls." Gail said as she flopped into the chair across from Holly.

Holly couldn't help but smile at the use of her nick name. She loved the way it sounded coming from Gail's lips.

"I brought you a danish this time, so you don't have to steal mine." She said, passing one of the coffees to Holly and opening the box. She helped herself to a danish and took an enormous bite.

Holly laughed, "Stealing yours is half the fun detective," She said, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

Gail snorted, "Fun for you maybe."

Holly just grinned at her over her pastry. They ate in comfortable silence for a while before Gail brought up the purpose of her visit.

"So, Mrs Sullivan. Anything more you can tell us?" Gail asked.

"I Did her autopsy as soon as the body arrived at the lab. Cause of death was definitely exsanguination. The stab wound in the right hypochondrium went straight into her liver, that wound alone would have been survivable but the one in the epigastrium transected her abdominal aorta, the big vessel that transports the blood from the heart to the rest of your body, that's what killed her. She would have bleed out in minutes." Holly said as she flipped open an anatomy text to show Gail the artery she was referring to.

"She had multiple facial contusions with underlying facial fractures, her attacker hit her with a considerable amount of force. She also had multiple rib fractures, severe contusions on her abdomen and right flank and contusions on her right arm." Holly flicked the pages in the book until she found one illustrating the bones of the forearm. "Her right ulna was fractured," Holly pointed to the bone, "Which is in keeping with her raising her arm to ward off a blow. It's called a night stick fracture. Commonly seen on people being subdued by the police with the assistance of their batons but in this case I think it was caused by a punch. As I showed you at the scene she had multiple defensive injuries on her hands and forearms. I'm pretty sure she tried to grab the knife away from him."

Gail nodded, taking in everything Holly had said. "Anything from under her fingernails?" Gail asked.

"I took scrapings from her nails on both hands, I'm quietly confident that there will be cells there that we can use. I sent them off to micro for further analysis. I'll call you as soon as I have a result." Holly said.

Gail looked at Holly for a while before voicing her next question. "Any suspicion of sexual assault?"

Holly sighed and removed her glasses, her hand coming up to rub the bridge of her nose. "Yes. I found extensive vaginal trauma with semen on her underwear and within the vaginal vault. Samples have been sent for DNA analysis, they will be compared to the epithelials from under the victims fingernails and run through the DNA database, hopefully this prick had a DNA profile on file."

Gail could tell that this case had upset the pathologist, she'd ask about its someday but now wasn't the time. Instead she did something very uncharacteristic and reached out to place her hand over Holly's, running her thumb over her knuckles. "We'll get him," She said, her cobalt blues locking onto Holly's eyes.

Holly smiled, "I know you will detective." She said as Gail withdrew her hand and stood.

She turned back to Holly once she reached the door. Gail suddenly appeared nervous, "About Thursday," She said, shoving her hands deep into her pockets, "I was thinking steak at Harbour Sixty?"

Holly smiled, her features immediately brightening. "Sounds good."

Gail grinned, "Good, I'll make a reservation. Meet you there at 7?"

"Perfect." Holly said, her mood instantaneously lifted.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone. Another chapter for you all, finally! :) I just want to thank everyone for the follows, favourites and reviews. They are what keep me going here and I appreciate every single one. So for some reason none of my chapters want to upload onto ff from my mac after upgrading my operating system so I've had to resort to its ancient predecessor to get the job done. Luckily it still works, all be it rather slowly. As we all know Rookie Blue and its characters belong to Tassie Cameron et al and I'm just borrowing a few here and there.

**Chapter 6**

**I**

Gail strolled into 15 and made her way straight over to Traci where she perched on the edge of the desk and looked at her expectantly as she sat there on her phone. Her fellow detective returned the phone to its cradle and sighed, "I have chairs you know Gail, you are scrunching up my reports."

Gail shrugged, not moving from her position. "So Dr Stewart confirmed cause of death as exsanguination from the stab wound in her epigastrium. She narrowed time of death down to between 23h00 and 01h00 and managed to get epithelial cells from under the victim's fingernails and semen from within the vagina which has been sent off for DNA analysis."

Traci scrunched up her nose, "What kind of sick bastard rapes a 73 year old woman?" She said, disgust plain on her face. "While you were away playing with dead bodies we got on with some good old police work and verified the whereabouts of the two Sullivan kids, both were where they claimed to be at the time of their mother's death. Mrs Walsh's story also checked out, got footage of her with her kid at the Mc Donald's drive through at around 20h00 and confirmation from a neighbour that saw them return home at around 20H45. Her house alarm was disarmed at 20H48, reset at 21H00 and only disarmed again at 06h30 this morning. Price and Collins have gone to try and get footage from the ATM camera where the withdrawal was made last night. They should be back shortly."

Gail nodded, "Whoever did this isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He left us stacks of evidence to work with. As soon as we can get an I.D on him this guy is toast." She said, slamming her fist into her palm.

**II**

Gail and Traci had gone out and picked up burritos from their favourite food truck while they had been waiting for Nick and Chloe to return with the camera footage from the ATM. Both were munching happily when the officers returned.

It's about damn time." Gail said around a mouthful of food, throwing her scrunched up serviette at Nick as they approached.

Gail motioned for him to give the Flash drive containing the video file to Dov who had become the designated resident tech geek, to open and watch.

Gail and Traci pulled up chairs and huddled around Dov while the file loaded. He skipped ahead to a few minutes before the withdrawal in question was made and they all watched in silence as a tall looking black male wearing a maple leafs baseball cap approached the ATM. He looked around before sliding the card into the machine and proceeded to withdraw the $5000.

"Come on, come on." Gail mumbled, so far they hadn't been able to get a look at the man's face as his cap was pulled down low. They watched him turn to leave, still with no good visual. Gail had all but given up hope of getting a good look at the perp's face when suddenly he turned back toward the camera for a fleeting moment. "Bingo," she said with a fist pump as Dov froze the image and hit print. They had a face, now all they needed was a name.

"Right," Traci said, "I want this photo out to every cop in the city. The faster we get this guy the better."

She picked up a copy for herself and Gail, "How bout we run this past Mrs Walsh, see if she recognises him." She said as she and Gail made their way to the car.

**III**

Traci knocked on Harriet Walsh's front door and announced herself and Gail as they stood on the porch waiting for the door to be answered. They could here footsteps pounding down the hall when suddenly the door was yanked open by a blonde girl who Gail assumed was the 12 year old daughter she'd heard about. The girl watched the detectives for a second, her eyes flickering to the badges they carried on their belts. She smiled then and opened the door wider.

"Hi," she greeted the two women in front of her. "My mum said to invite you in. She's busy cooking pot roast in the kitchen." The girl led them down the hall and into a spacious kitchen, motioning for them to take a seat around a small table. Mrs Walsh had just closed the oven and began taking of her oven gloves as she made her way over to where the detectives were siting.

"Can I get you ladies anything, I've got some home made ginger beer and a fresh batch of cookies that just came out of the oven?" She offered. Gail's stomach chose just that moment to let out a loud growl. She blushed as Mrs Walsh laughed and Traci looked over at her.

"We just ate," she said incredulously, "what are you? A black hole?"

Gail smiled sheepishly and thanked Mrs Walsh as she placed a plate of cookies down in front of her with a glass of ginger beer each for the two of them.

Gail munched on a biscuit as Traci passed the picture of their still unknown suspect over to Mrs Walsh.

"Have you ever seen this man before ma'am," Traci asked.

Mrs Walsh slid a pair of glasses onto her face and examined the picture closely, she took her time, making sure of what she saw before answering. "That's Mr Reginald Porter. He is a handy man of sorts. He helps around the house and yard every now and then. Mrs Sullivan had him around this week to paint the siding on the house because the paint had started to crack and peel in places." She said, putting the picture down on the table. "I never liked the man much, used to make my skin crawl, heard he'd been in prison before for something or other. Mrs Sullivan was a nice old lady, she was always telling me people deserve a second chance in life and she'd heard that Mr Porter had a young child to support so she gave him some work when she could."

Traci nodded and sipped at her Ginger beer, "When was the last time Mr Porter was around the house ma'am?"

"He had been there the morning before I found her, painting round back. He left at about 14h00 that afternoon." She answered

"Did he ever do anything that you would consider suspicious Mrs Walsh?" Traci asked.

"Well I caught him peering in through the master bedroom window earlier in the week while I was cleaning, I got the distinct impression that he was casing the place. I told Mrs Sullivan but she brushed it off." She said. "Do you think he has anything to do with her death?"

"We are investigating every avenue ma'am," Traci said vaguely as she stood, taking one last sip from her glass. Gail stood too, cramming half a cookie into her mouth as she did so and swallowing quickly.

"Thank you for your time Mrs Walsh," Gail said, "and for the cookies, they are delicious."

The women smiled sadly, "They were always Mrs Sullivan's favourite."

She led the two detectives to the door and spoke as they descended the stairs to the front path. "Please catch this man detectives, Mrs Sullivan didn't deserve to go out like this."

"We will do everything in our power to make sure that the animal who did this ends up behind bars for a long time ma'am." Gail said before retreating back to the car.

While Gail slipped behind the wheel Traci tapped out a text to Dov, asking him to pull everything they had on Mr Reginald Porter. Now at least they had a name to the face, one step closer to catching a killer.

**IV**

By the time they got back to the station Dov and Chris had arranged all the information they had found on an evidence board. Mr Porter's most recent DMV photo was stuck up in the middle accompanied by his previous booking photo's and his rap sheet which although long, did not contain any major offences. He had a few drunk and disorderly's, one or two drug charges and a string of petty theft charges. Nothing new in the last two years.

"Good work guys," Traci said as they approached.

Chris took out a piece of paper and handed it to Gail, "Once we had a name I sent it up to prints and seeing as Mr Porter is already on file for his previous encounters with us they were able to run the print under the bottle of scotch against his. Came back as a match, no surprise there. I also spoke to Dr Stewart, the DNA profile is almost complete, once we have a sample from Mr Porter she can run a comparison between the two."

"Great," Gail said, her eyes sparkling. "How about we go over and pay Mr Porter a visit, ask him real nice to come on down to the station with us."

**V**

Gail and Traci sat in an unmarked car across from Reginald Porter's last known address and watched the people coming and going from the building, they wanted to get a feel for the vibe in the neighbourhood as it was one of the less savoury in Toronto and they didn't want to walk in unprepared without knowing the lay of the land. They had two other patrol cars up and down the block in case they needed back up on this one.

Gail nudged Traci when she spotted a man matching Reginald's description making his way down the side walk caring a paper bag of groceries. He was still wearing the Maple Leafs cap they had caught on the ATM film. Both detectives opened their doors and made there way across the street toward their suspect. Gail moved her jacket aside and let her hand rest on the butt of the gun on her right hip.

"Mr Reginald Porter," Traci said when they were no more than a few metres from the man. He turned to look at the two woman, his eyes going wide when he saw the badges on their belts. He immediately hurled the parcel he had been carrying straight at Traci and bolted down the street.

The parcel thumped into Traci's chest and fell, a milk bottle bursting as it hit the ground.

"God dammit!" Gail grumbled as she took off after him, "Why do they always have to run."

She was gaining on him as they rounded the next corner, a few more strides and she was almost close enough to touch him. She launched herself into the air and came down on the suspects back, pushing him of balance and hurtling towards the pavement. They landed with a thud and Gail was up as quick as a flash, cuffs already in her hand. Before Reginald could even catch his breath Gail had the cuffs on and had started pulling him to his feet.

"What the hell bitch! I didn't do nothin'." Reginald lamented as Gail pulled him along.

"Yeah, yeah," Gail said, "save it for the jury bud."

A squad car pulled up next to Gail as she dragged Reginald along. Nick got out of the car. "Need a hand?" he asked, opening the back door for Gail to dump the squirming man into.

"Sure took you long enough," she grumbled as she slammed the door shut, effectively cutting off the man's cussing. As she took a step back she felt pain shoot up from her knee. Looking down she saw a large tear in the material over her left knee and she could feel the blood trickling down her calf. "Just great." She said tapping on the window of the squad and pointing to her knee, "You owe me a new pair of pants you jack ass."

**VI**

By the time Gail walked into the bull pen after stopping in the locker room to change her pants and clean up her knee, Reginald had been escorted to an interrogation room where a cheek swab had been collected thanks to a speedy court order Traci had arranged on their drive back to 15.

The two detectives had been observing the man through the one way glass for a few minutes, they had left him to stew for a couple of hours while the DNA comparison was being run in the lab. They had just received confirmation that his DNA was a match to that of the epithelial cells found under the victims fingernails and to the semen collected from her body.

Gail and Traci had their man and they knew it. Gail pushed open the door and sauntered over to the table in the middle of the room, taking a seat in one of the empty steal chairs while Traci took the other.

"I didn't do nothin'." Reginald repeated as the detectives sat.

"That, Mr Porter is in fact true," Gail said as she folded her hands over the file in front of her. "You most certainly did something."

The man looked confused as Gail smiled back at him. "Double negative," She said.

"I Want my lawyer," the man growled, "I aint sayin' nothin'."

"Oh you don't have to say a word Mr Porter, you see, I'm happy to do all the talking here today." Gail said.

Gail opened the file and pulled out a photo of an alive and well Catherine Sullivan smiling at the camera, placing it in front of Reginald who pretended not to look at it.

"That, Mr Porter, is Mrs Catherine Sullivan, but you knew that already right?" Gail said, "You worked odd jobs for her off and on and you had been painting the siding on her house as recently as two days ago."

Gail retrieved another photo from her file and slid it across the desk, it was a scene photo of Mrs Sullivan lying in a pool of her own blood. "And that," Gail said, "Is what you did to her."

Reginald stubbornly crossed his arms and pursed his lips.

"Do you want to know how I know you did that Reginald?" Gail asked. She waited but got no reply. Once again she pulled a photo from her file, this time the one of Reginald taken by the ATM's camera.

"That's you Mr Porter, it was taken when you used Mrs Sullivan's ATM card to withdraw $5000 from her account. We've got you on video twice. What happened, she give you the wrong pin the first time?" Gail said. She watched Reginald's eye twitch and smiled, she was on the right track.

"Let me tell you what I think happened her Mr Porter. You knew Mrs Sullivan's routines, you'd been around the house enough to know what happened when. You ambushed her at her back door on Tuesday night, you knew she would open the door for you when you came a knocking and when she did you slammed it back into her face. You grabbed her by the right arm and led her back into the kitchen, forcing her into a chair near the breakfast nook. How am I doing so far?" Gail asked, waiting a beat before continuing.

"You forced her to give up her pin while you indulged in some expensive whiskey. Very clever wiping the bottle for finger prints by the way but you missed one on the bottom." Gail said. She saw something flicker behind the man's eyes.

"Then you left her tied to the chair with you drove to the nearest ATM to make your withdrawal. It must have made you so mad when you figured out you had the wrong pin. So mad that when you got back you beat the crap out of a poor little old lady. I bet that felt good right, beating on someone who couldn't hit back." Gail sneered but still got no response.

"Second time lucky, the pin worked. But no, the money wasn't enough, you had to teach her a lesson too. So you raped a 73 year old, frail, defenceless lady." Gail spat the last words at him in disgust. "And once you were done you stabbed her and left her there on her own kitchen floor to bleed to death."

Gail sat back in the chair and looked at Reginald who was staring at the table in front of him.

Traci stepped in, "What you didn't count on Reginald was that she would fight back so hard though right. Those scratch marks there on your face, she made those didn't she? We found your DNA under her nails. You know where else we found your DNA? Inside of her." Traci lent forward on her elbows and looked him right in the eye. "We've got you, you little prick."

**VII**

Traci had been watching Gail all morning. Something was definitely off with her today. She appeared more pale than normal, which Traci thought was impossible, seeing as she was already practically see-through. "You okay there slugger?" She asked, eyeing Gail suspiciously.

Gail cleared her throat, "I'm not feeling brilliant actually," She replied, taking a deep breath. "Probably something I ate last night, Dov cooked. It's fine, I'm sure it will pass."

The paper work that came with closing a case was the bane of Gail's life. She grumbled all morning under her breath about it and the fact that she already felt like shit didn't help the situation. By lunch time a thin sheen of sweat had settled on Gail's brow and she was starting to feel worse than she had that morning.

Traci eyed her worriedly when she stood and grumbled something about the bathroom, she looked a little unsteady on her feet. When Gail hadn't returned in 15 minutes she knew something was wrong and decided to go in search of her partner. "Gail?" she called out as she entered the rest rooms. "Gail?" she called again when she didn't get an answer. She stepped further into the room when she heard a groan coming from one of the stalls and pushed open the door. She looked down on the blonde who was slumped against the side of the stall.

"Oh God Traci, I think I'm dying." Gail groaned as Traci knelt beside her. "I think my insides are revolting."

Traci reached out a hand to smooth the hair away from Gail's sweat streaked brow. "Jesus Gail," She whispered. "You are burning up." She turned to the basins and wet one of the hand towels and wiped Gail's face.

"Mmm, the cold feels so good," Gail mumbled, leaning into Traci's hand.

"Do you think you can walk kiddo? We need to get you to a hospital." Traci said, trying to get Gail to put her arm around her shoulders so she could help her up.

"I hate hospitals Trace," Gail grumbled as she gripped onto her shoulder. She grunted in pain as she got to her feet.

Traci Chuckled, "I know you do sweetie but I really think we need to get you some help because frankly you look like shit."

"You are such an awesome friend," Gail said holding onto her right side as they limped out of the restrooms. Traci grinned, the sarcasm wasn't lost on her.

By the time they had made it to the emergency room Gail had gone quiet, only groaning every time she had to move. That's when Traci knew this was something serious, nothing ever shut Gail up. She jogged into the E.R and grabbed a wheel chair before returning to get Gail out of the car. She flashed her badge at the nurse behind the glass as they entered the front doors and had a quiet word before she hustled off, returning a mere minute later with a doctor who took Gail into an examination room.

"Hi there," the doctor greeted Gail as he helped her up onto the examination bed. "I'm Dr Baker, I hear your stomach has been bugging you just a bit today."

Gail barked a laugh and then groaned in pain. "Yeah, just a tiny bit." She said holding her right side again.

"Don't worry detective, we've got your back, you are in good hands. I need to ask you a few questions then do a quick examination okay?" He said with a smile.

Gail nodded, "Shoot doc."

He walked her through his questions with practiced efficiency, and then pulled his stethoscope from around his neck and stepped forward to examine her. "I'm going to have a quick listen to your heart and lungs and then I need to feel your abdomen and have a look see with this little ultra sound right here." He gave the small portably machine at his side an affectionate pat before moving closer to Gail and placing the steth on her chest.

"Deep breath for me," he said, listening intently over her chest. "Good," he said as he placed his hands on her exposed belly and palpating softly moving from left to right. Gail cringed as he reached the lower right quadrant of her abdomen. He fired up the ultrasound and placed it on her belly, moving the probe around and watching the greyscale images on the screen.

Gail tensed again, going stiff and sucking in a shallow breath as the probe reached her lower right abdomen. "Doc I swear to God if you keep poking me there I'm going to have to shoot you." She said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry about that Detective Peck, I'll organise something for the pain right away." He said as he stood and wiped the ultrasound gel from her abdomen.

"So what's the damage Doc," Gail asked looking up at him.

"Well detective, I'm pretty sure your appendix is the culprit here. It looks very inflamed on the ultrasound, doesn't look perforated though so that's good. I'm going to give the surgeon on today a call but I think you should know that you are going to need surgery to have it removed." The doctor said.

Gail groaned, "Fan-bloody-tastic."

The doctor emerged from the room and approached Traci who had been pacing outside.

"Detective," He nodded at her. "Your colleague appears to have appendicitis. I've put up an I.V line for her and started her up on some pain meds. The surgeon should be around to see her soon, is there family of hers that we can call? She's going to need to go to theatre to have her appendix removed."

"Thanks Doctor, I'll get in contact with her brother. Can I go in to see her?" Traci asked.

"Sure, you can sit with her until Dr Bradford comes down to see her." He said, taking Gail's chart to make his notes.

Traci called Steve before going in to see Gail, he was on his way before she ended the call. She opened the curtain and slipped into the cubicle with Gail. The meds had definitely kicked in and she appeared to be resting comfortably when Traci sat in the plastic chair next to her. She reached out for Gail's hand but hesitated, not knowing if the blonde would approve of the contact. She settled her hand atop of Gail's who turned her head and grinned at her, her normally clear blue eyes foggy.

"These are some goooood drugs Trace," she said, her grin widening.

Traci snorted, Gail was as high as a kite.

Gail hummed and mumbled something incoherent.

"Gail, you need to try and relax. The doctor says it looks like you have appendicitis. You are going to need surgery to have your appendix out. Steve is on his way." She said, giving Gail's hand a pat.

Gail groaned, "Please tell me no one told my mother."

"Well I definitely didn't call her," Traci said.

Gail suddenly sat upright, grunting in pain, a stricken look on her face. "Oh my god Traci, what time is it?" She asked.

"Relax Gail, it's 18:40, why?" Traci said, looking confused.

Gail's eyes went wide. "Where is my phone?"

Traci wondered how much of the theatrics could be attributed to the drugs. "I think it got left at the station. Just calm down, you are going to hurt yourself." She said as she tried to stop Gail from fighting with her sheets and getting out of bed.

"Trace I need to ask you a huge favour. I'm supposed to meet Holly at Harbour sixty in twenty minutes. Somehow I don't think I'm going to make it. I need you to go get her. I need you to go get her right now. Please." Gail pleaded.

"Holly?" Traci looked confused.

"Dr Holly Stewart, the forensic pathologist, you met her at the Sullivan scene. Please Trace, she's going to think I stood her up." Gail practically begged.

Traci raised an eyebrow at Gail as she stood. "Okay, okay. Just as long as you stay in bed, you hear me?"

Gail nodded vigorously as Traci stood. "You have some explaining to do when I get back, you hear me?" Traci said in her best mum voice before hustling through the curtain.

**VIII**

Holly had shown up at the restaurant 20 minutes early. True to her word, Gail had booked them a table. Holly had been sitting there alone now for the past 35 minutes. She looked down at her watch for what felt like the hundredth time before sighing and pulling out her phone. She dialled Gail's number but frowned when it rang several times before rolling over to voicemail. She fired off a quick text to the detective before settling in to wait.

When Gail hadn't shown up after another 20 minutes or bothered to respond to 2 more calls and 3 messages Holly was starting to get antsy. She was just about to get up and leave when she spotted a harried Traci Nash walking towards her. Immediately she stood, her heart beating a mile a minute. Something was wrong.

Traci saw the worry build in the doctors eyes as she approached. "Hey Dr Stewart, Gail asked me to come out and pick you up. She's okay, well sort of anyway." She said tilting her head to the left. "She has appendicitis, they are about to wheel her into surgery. She didn't want you to think she stood you up." the detective shrugged.

Holly let out a breath, "Thank God," she said. "When I saw you walk in I immediately thought the worst." It was at that moment that Holly realised that this thing she felt for Gail was a lot more than she initially thought it was and that scared her, she hardly knew the woman.

IX

Holly followed Traci in through the hospital doors. The detective had spoken to Steve on the drive over. Gail had been whisked into surgery just as Traci had left to collect Holly and was now out of theatre and in a private room. Apparently the surgery went off without a hitch, which allowed Holly to breathe easy for the first time since she saw the wrong detective walk into the restaurant almost an hour ago. The crazy traffic on the way to the hospital had only increased her frustration and she just wanted to see Gail with her own eyes, touch her pale skin and hear her voice, just to be sure that she was okay.

Steve smiled at Holly as she and Traci approached the room. "She's been asking for you," he said as he stepped aside and held the door for Holly, allowing her to enter the room.

Holly quickly stepped over the threshold, her eyes settling on the slumbering blonde in the bed near the window. She just stood there watching her for a beat longer, finding the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest comforting before moving closer and reaching for her pale hand. She ran her thumb over Gail's knuckles, causing her to stir and turn towards her.

"Hey," she mumbled sleepily as her eyes met Holly's, the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile that Holly returned.

"Hey yourself," Holly said, gripping Gail's hand a little tighter.

Neither of the two had noticed Traci and Steve slip into the room and hover near the door.

Holly reached up with her free hand and stroked a few strands of hair away from Gail's eyes, her fingers grazing her forehead, eliciting a contented hum from Gail as her eyes fluttered shut for a second.

"You scared me, you know," Holly whispered, leaning forward over the railing of the bed. Her fingers now playing with the short hair near Gail's left ear.

"I'm sorry," Gail whispered back, reaching up to trace Holly's cheek with the back of her fingers. "I really wasn't planning on getting an inflamed appendix on our first real date. I blame Dov's cooking, I'm never eating anything he makes ever again."

Holly chuckled, "Sweetie I'm pretty sure Dov's cooking had nothing to do with you appendicitis."

Gail's eyes locked onto Holly's, the bright cobalt blue still a little fuzzy from all the pain meds and the after effects of the anaesthesia. She seemed to inspect Holly for a long while before she spoke. "Your eyes have little gold flecks in them." She said, a note of wonder in her voice.

Holly blushed, dipping her head shyly. if she hadn't already been leaning close over the bed rail she would have missed the next statement that slipped from the blondes lips.

"God, you are so beautiful." She whispered, lifting her hand once again to run her fingers along Holly's jaw line.

Traci and Steve had been watching the exchange from just within the door. Traci felt a bit like a voyeur, she had never seen Gail react this way to anyone before. Granted the meds had something to do with her openness but she was pretty sure it had a lot to do with the woman that was leaning over the hospital bed too.

When Gail reached up a second time to touch the woman's face realisation dawned, a light bulb came on in her head and she cleared her throat, motioning Steve outside with a nod of her head, giving the two some privacy.

Steve stepped outside with Traci, a frown creasing his brow. His sister's behaviour with the pathologist had caught him off guard. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Gail like that with anyone. In fact, he couldn't say that he had ever seen her like that with anyone. He was just about to say something about it to Traci when his eyes found the form of a tall auburn haired woman dressed in baby blue scrubs and sneakers striding toward them.

"Detective Peck," she greeted him as she neared the pair standing outside of her patient's room. She turned her green eye's on Traci and smiled, "I don't believe we've met." She said, extending her hand toward Traci. "Evelyn Bradford, Gail's surgeon." She said as she shook her hand.

"Traci Nash, Nice to meet you," Traci replied politely.

Evelyn stepped toward the door and pushed into the room, stopping as she reached the end of the bed, she picked up Gail's chart to check her last set of vitals. "Well Gail," She said as she looked over the chart. "Everything looks good so far. I'm pleased to say that your surgery was rather uneventful, everything went as planned. Her eyes flicked up to Gail who smiled at her. It was then that Dr Bradford caught sight of the brunette at Gail's bedside. She smiled widely, her eyes quickly moving between the brunette's face and her hand, that was still tightly coiled around Gail's.

"Holly," She said, her eyes returning to the brunette's face. "It's been too long."

"Ev," Holly returned the smile and turned to Gail who was looking rather confused.

"Evelyn and I went to med school together, she is a fantastic surgeon Gail, the best in Toronto. You are in good hands." Holly said, giving Gail's hand another squeeze.

Evelyn chuckled, "If Holly had followed through and joined me in surgery I would have been the second best surgeon in town." She shrugged.

Gail narrowed her eyes as they flicked between the two women in her room. She sensed an unknown undercurrent of something she couldn't quite put her finger on. Subconsciously and unbeknownst to her, she possessively tightened her grip on Holly's hand and drew it closer to her chest. She turned her attention back to Dr Bradford when she spoke once more.

"We will keep you overnight for observation and if everything looks good and you are up and about I can discharge you tomorrow." Evelyn said with a smile as she slipped the chart back into the holder at the foot of the bed. "I'll pop in to check on you a bit later, try and get some rest. Holly, it was good to see you again. We should grab coffee sometime and catch up."

Holly smiled at her, "Sure thing." She said as Evelyn made her way back out the door.

Holly turned her attention back to the blonde, squeezing her hand.

"Ex girlfriend?" Gail asked inquisitively.

Holly chuckled, "Perceptive much?"

Gail tapped the side of her nose, "bit of detective work." She said smiling

"We dated for about five minutes in our second year only to realise that it would never work, we had absolutely no chemistry." Holly said.

Gail just smiled a groggy smile up at the brunette before her eyes started to flutter shut. The last thing she saw before she drifted off to sleep was that lop sided grin on Holly's face.


	7. Chapter 7

Right, so it's been an absolute age since I've updated and I must apologise profusely for my tardiness but work has just been kicking my ass lately and it's only going to get worse the closer we get to the festive season so hang in there with me. Got half of the next chapter done already and hope to have it up by Christmas. Also decided to try my hand at Tumblr, even though I'll probably be terrible, feel free to come say hi. Bell2611 if you are at all interested. So I kind of like to think that given the chance Gail would be a bit of a romantic. I relate to her character quite a bit and even though if you ever repeat this I may have to kill all of you, I can be a bit of a romantic too. It's just nice to think that there is that special kind of relationship, that bond with another person that just brings out all kinds of beautiful things from within people that they keep hidden on any given day. That's what Holly does for Gail, or that's at least what I'm trying to portray. And that's enough sap to last a life time so here is the next chapter… Thanks again for all the reviews and PM's, they really encourage me to keep going. It's awesome to know there are people out there who enjoy what I write.

**Chapter 7**

I

Gail grumbled as Steve attempted to help her from the bed to the wheelchair that was parked at her bedside. "I'm not an invalid Steven!" She said, swatting at his arm and jumping off the bed on her own. She plopped down into the wheel chair. "All they did was take out a redundant piece of my bowel; I don't even have a cool scar. She crossed her arms across her chest and gave the porter a death stare. "Why do I have to ride in this damn thing anyway when I'm perfectly capable of walking out of here on my own two feet?"

"I'm sorry ma'am, hospital policy." Was the only answer she got from the surly young man as he at least allowed Steve to push the wheel chair.

Dr Bradford had been leaning against the door frame watching the scene unfold at her patient's bedside and couldn't help but chuckle. Gail was an interesting character to say the least. She walked beside them as Steve wheeled his sister towards the door. "Now Gail, I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but you are going to be a little sore for the next few days so I want you to take it easy. I've booked you off for the rest of the week and I want to see you again on Monday to make sure you are doing okay. Don't forget to take your antibiotics and I've prescribed something for pain as well" The doctor said as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her scrubs. Evelyn retracted her left hand and passed a card to Gail, "That's my number, if you need anything please don't hesitate to call."

They came to a stop just outside the hospital doors and Gail practically leapt out of the chair. "Freedom," She said, stretching her arms skywards only to grimace and bring them gingerly back to her sides.

Evelyn chuckled, "I warned you. Take it easy Peck." She said, giving Gail a stern look.

"Sure thing doc," Gail said with a grin. "Thanks for everything." She said with a wave as the doctor turned to head back inside the hospital.

Gail snapped her fingers, "Grab my bag won't you Steve, there's a good man."

"If you don't watch it I'll make you carry it yourself Abigail." Steve replied while swinging her overnight bag over his shoulder.

"That would unfortunately be against doctors orders. I clearly remember her saying I should take it easy." She said smiling innocently at her brother.

"Yeah, yeah." He said, walking past her, "The car is this way."

II

Gail had wanted to return to the frat house on discharge from the hospital but Steve would have none of it and had set her up in his spare room and mandated that she stay there until her check up on Monday. Gail had grumbled about this for a while but she was secretly pleased that she was staying over at Steve's. At least he had a PlayStation to keep her busy while he was at work and his place smelled a bit better too.

Gail had just settled on the couch and commandeered the remote when her phone pinged, signaling an incoming text. She picked it up and smiled when she saw Holly's face staring up at her from the screen. "You make it home in one piece detective?" it read. She typed out a quick reply informing her that she was over at Steve's and doing just fine. When she put the phone back onto the coffee table she looked up and caught Steve watching her from the armchair across from her. She narrowed her eyes at him, "What?" She barked.

His grin widened, "Oh nothing," he said, putting his hands up defensively.

Gail's death stare was broken by the sound of another text landing. She turned her attention back to the phone. "Can I come say hi on my way home from work?"

Gail bit her lip; she really wanted to see the pathologist. Her eyes flickered back up to Steve who at least had the good grace to pretend to be watching the T.V. She looked down at the message again as she made up her mind.

"Steve I need you to make yourself scarce tonight," she said as he looked back at her.

"You do realise you are kicking me out of my own house right? After I lovingly invited you to stay with me after having surgery. Because I'm such a caring brother" He said with an indignant look on his face. What he got for his efforts was a pillow flying towards his head and a look that said see if I care.

He had a good idea who the texts where coming from and was enjoying making Gail squirm a bit before he relented. He was planning on going over to Traci's later anyway as he had promised Leo a gaming night earlier in the week and it was Friday and the little guy had no school tomorrow so it was actually the perfect opportunity. He Shrugged, "Sure, seeing as you asked so nicely." He stood and went in search of his car keys and jacket, "You better behave yourself though. Tell Holly I say hi." That caught Gail a little off guard but before she could say anything Steve was already out the door. He stuck his head back in and said, "No heavy lifting you hear." He winked at her before retracting his head. He was long gone by the time the pillow crashed into the door where his head had been seconds ago.

She texted Holly Steve's address and added "bring sustenance" to the end of the text as she settled back into the couch to watch some mindless television while awaiting the brunette's arrival.

III

Holly smiled as she read the text. She was starting to realise that food was definitely the way to Gail's heart. Steve's place was actually pretty close to her own apartment which meant she could stop over at the little Italian place she'd discovered on her way home from work a few weeks ago. Their food was to die for. She wasn't quite sure what Gail would like and she had only ever seen her eat junk food so she picked up a rather large selection of pastas, seafood and deserts.

Holly pulled up outside Steve's building and turned in her seat to look at all the food on the back seat. She hadn't quite thought about how she was going to get it all up to the apartment.

Gail opened the door to see nothing but a set of spectacles and Holly's dark hair peeking out above a mountain of food and it smelled absolutely delicious. She quickly grabbed a few of the boxes from the top of the stack, exposing Holly's beautiful smile as she relived her of her cargo.

Gail returned her smile. "You do know it's just the two of us right?" She said as they laid out their bounty on the kitchen island.

Holly blushed, "Well I wasn't sure what you would like so I sort of got a large selection."

Gail laughed, "I'll say. Definitely my kind of woman." This time it was Gail's turn to blush. "Um... I mean… um," she stuttered, not able to look Holly in the eye.

Holly laughed; the pink in Gail's cheeks was too cute for words. "It's okay Gail, I get it." she said. She reached out her hand and stroked Gail's cheek; she could feel the warmth beneath her fingers. Gail leant into her touch and finally looked up to meet those chocolate brown eyes she was beginning to love. She wasn't quite sure how long they stood there staring at each other; for all Gail knew it could have been mere seconds, hours or even days. She could easily get lost in Holly's eyes.

Holly finally dropped her hand away from Gail's face and smiled, "How about we start making a dent in all this food shall we?"

Gail nodded enthusiastically and began to open some of the cartons allowing the sumptuous aromas to fill the kitchen. "Oh my God, this smells so amazing!" She said hovering over the open cartons. Gail quickly went to one of the cupboards and grabbed plates and cutlery for them.

Holly watched as Gail began to pile food onto her plate. She noticed that she seemed to purposefully avoid a few of the cartons and was about to ask about it when Gail seemed to read her mind. "Tomato allergy," she supplied nonchalantly and shrugged.

"Sorry," Holly apologised bashfully.

"No big deal," Gail said through her first bite. "Mmm, this is so good." Gail said pointing down to some of the prawn risotto she had shoveled into her mouth.

Holly Chuckled, "Easy there tiger. There is a lot more where that came from, let's try not to inhale our food."

Gail smiled and took a smaller bite, chewing it reverently as she waited for Holly to finish filling her own plate. They settled onto cushions on the floor around the coffee table and ate until they couldn't fit another morsel into their stomachs.

They had moved onto opposite ends of the couch after their dinner. "That was amazing." Gail said with a sigh as she lay back onto the soft cushions.

"I know right?" Holly said as she pulled her legs up underneath her and studied the blonde on the other end of the couch. She watched her as she lay there with a contented smile on her lips. Holly realised something in that moment as she sat there watching Gail. She felt… whole. Yes, that is what it was. This infuriating, beautiful, snarky blonde made her feel like she was home, like she was now whole after missing an important part of herself since the day she was born. Holly was a woman of science, a woman of fact. And the fact was, the beautiful creature sitting across from her was her soul mate and there was no denying it.

Gail's cobalt blues met Holly's eyes. "Hi," She said softly.

"Hi yourself," Holly whispered back, resting her chin on her knee and watching Gail.

The blonde stretched her arm out toward the pathologist and grabbed her hand. "C'mere." She said. Pulling Holly to her and wrapping her arm around her shoulders. She had been suppressing the overwhelming need to touch the other woman since she walked through the door. The brunette's head came to rest on Gail's shoulder and she kissed her hair. Gail could smell Holly's shampoo, vanilla. She hummed into her hair. They sat like that, silent for a long while, just enjoying the way their bodies fit together. Gail had begun to run her fingers up and down Holly's arm and it felt amazing.

Gail definitely did not classify herself as the cuddly type; in fact she was more of the opposite and didn't often let anyone into her personal space let alone enjoy it. Holly, it seemed was the exception. For some reason, whenever Holly was anywhere near her she wanted to touch her. Hold her. Breathe her in. Gail shifted on the couch to get comfortable, pulling Holly down with her. She swung her legs up and slid her left calf between Holly's. The brunette's head was now resting on her chest; her right hand positioned softly right over where she could feel Gail's heart beating rhythmically against her chest wall. Gail slipped Holly's glasses from her face and placed them on the table as she began to play with the strands of hair falling around her face.

Before either woman realised it they had fallen asleep in each others arms, snuggled together on the couch. This was how Steve found them when he opened the front door almost two hours later. He stood for a minute looking down at his sister and the pathologist as they slept. He watched as the brunette stirred and how Gail automatically pulled her in closer. He smiled at his little sister.

When Traci had first let slip what she thought might be happening between Gail and the pathologist at the hospital he had been skeptical. He had only seen his sister date guys. She'd never even spoken about finding woman attractive but he had paid closer attention to her when she was around Holly that evening and it took one look between the two women for him to see it. Plain as day, how he had missed it before was beyond him.

For a minute he wondered if this new development regarding his sister's life should bother him but frankly, it just didn't. He just wanted her to be happy.

He knelt down beside the couch and placed a hand softly on Gail's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. It didn't take much; his sister had always been a light sleeper. The fact that he got in the door without rousing her meant she was super tired, but it could possibly also have something to do with the beautiful woman who was still fast asleep on her chest.

"Hey," Steve grinned at her. "Thought you guys might want to take this to the bedroom." He said wiggling his eyebrows.

If Holly hadn't been asleep on her chest she would have punched Steve but she had to settle for the most menacing glare she could muster.

He chuckled and backed away, "I'll leave you to it."

Gail looked down at Holly as she slept peacefully and couldn't help but smile when she nuzzled into her shoulder. She gently stroked the doctor's hair, grazing her forehead with her fingers. She whispered softly into Holly's ear to wake her.

The brunette let out a low hum as she slowly opened her eyes. She felt warm and safe and it took her sleep addled brain a minute to realise she was lying on a couch wrapped up in Gail's arms. She smiled as Gail tightened her grip on her slightly and she caught a whiff of the spicy orange perfume lingering on the skin of the blonde's neck.

Gail's lips brushed against Holly's ear, sending shivers down her back. "Hey sleepy head." Gail whispered, "It's getting late."

Holly uncurled herself from around Gail and sat up, retrieving her glasses from the coffee table. She couldn't hold back the small smile that had been on her lips since she woke to Gail's gentle caresses but the smile faltered when she turned to see the blonde fidgeting nervously with her hands while she sat on the far end of the couch again. Gail wouldn't look at her.

Holly immediately started second guessing herself; maybe she had read the signs wrong. What if Gail had decided they couldn't be more than friends? Was she moving too fast? She cleared her throat and adjusted her glasses. "I'll go pack away the left overs then I should probably head home." She said as she stood.

"Don't worry about it, Steve took care of the kitchen already." Gail said softly, still not really looking at Holly.

It occurred to Holly then that Steve must have seen them together on the couch and she began to wonder if that was why Gail was now being distant. She pointed toward the door, "I, uh, I should go." Holly said. She needed to walk past Gail to get to the door and the blonde showed no signs of moving from her seat. As Holly began to move the blonde's hand shot out, her fingers curling around Holly's wrist, pulling her to a stop. The pathologist turned to look at Gail, finally being met by her deep blue gaze. What she saw made her breath hitch, for a second Gail's walls where down and she felt as if she was looking straight into her soul.

Gail uttered a single, barely audible word. "Stay." She said as Holly stood there looking down at her.

The brunette saw the insecurity and vulnerability behind her eyes, she saw fear, but there was something else too. Hope. She could feel the importance of the moment as she stood there looking into those beautiful eyes and all she could do was nod as she swallowed the lump in her throat. The magnitude of what Gail just did wasn't lost on her; somehow she knew that what she had just been privy to behind those sapphire eyes was something few, if any had ever seen.

Gail stood without another word; she slipped her hand into Holly's and led her down the hall to Steve's spare room.

IV

Holly had always been an early riser and today was no different. She began to stir into consciousness at 05:30 and the fact that it was Saturday and she didn't have to go into work today seemed to be a foreign concept for her internal alarm clock. She began to roll over before she even opened her eyes but stopped when she felt a hand tighten on her arm, an arm that was draped over a soft, warm body. She opened her eyes slowly and noticed an out of focus mop of blonde bed hair not far from her own head and smiled as she remembered that she had slept over. The fact that they hadn't done anything other than sleep didn't perturb her in the least. She was waking up next to Gail, which was all that mattered right now. She scooted closer and pulled the blonde into her so that Gail's back was resting firmly against her front and nuzzled into her neck, breathing her in.

Gail groaned and turned in Holly's arms, snuggling in under her chin. "Why are you awake so early," She grumbled, snaking her arm around Holly's waist.

Holly chuckled, "Sorry," she said. "Habit."

"Mmm," Gail mumbled into Holly's chest.

Holly began to study the sleepy blonde curled into her. God she was so beautiful.

"I can feel you thinking nerd, now stop staring at me and go back to sleep." Gail said without even bothering to open her eyes.

Holly started to stroke Gail's hair and listened as her breathing evened out as she drifted off to sleep again. She could totally get used to this.

V

Gail and Holly had been unofficially dating for the past two months and the blonde was loving every minute of it. After that first morning of waking up next to the good doctor they hadn't had the opportunity to spend very much time together but she found herself relishing every moment. The call of duty somehow always managed to interfere with their plans to get together. Two homicide detectives from 15 had retired recently and with Luke away under cover it meant Gail and Traci had to pick up the slack for the time being. It also didn't help that Holly's boss had decided to take a mid-summer sabbatical for no reason at all and leave the running of the morgue in Holly's capable hands.

Gail had spent the night over at Holly's a few times over the past two months but other than a little heavy petting nothing more intimate had happened. Both woman were exhausted by the time they got home and on the one occasion Gail had managed to get at least half of Holly's clothes off her phone had started to ring, there had been a body dump that required their immediate attention. But this weekend was all theirs, both Holly and Gail had the weekend off and unbeknownst to the brunette Gail was planning on spoiling her a bit.

The blonde had made reservations at a new Spanish place that had opened up down town. They had only been around for the last month but were becoming well known for their amazing food and relaxed casual atmosphere, and it didn't hurt that they served some of the best cocktails in town. Gail was planning on have a good meal, a few drinks and amazing conversation before going home with Holly and finally taking her to bed and hopefully this time there would be more than just a good night's sleep involved. Lately she had been finding it more and more difficult to keep her hands to herself and she finally had a whole weekend to get to know the doctor a little better, in more ways than one.

She was still slightly apprehensive about taking the next step with Holly, but it was more a case of nerves than anything else. She was incredibly comfortable around the good doctor but she still had a lingering doubt in the back of her mind about her abilities to satisfy a woman, and she definitely didn't want to be a disappointment.

Gail sat at her desk on Friday afternoon chewing on her pen as she waited for her computer to save the last changes she made to one of the reports she had been working on. She was due to pick up Holly from the morgue soon and head out to dinner. She was the last of the detectives left in the D's office as the clock ticked toward 6pm. She swiveled in her chair as she heard footsteps approaching. A smile immediately lit up her face as she looked up to see Holly making her way towards her desk.

"Hi," She said, "I thought I was picking you up?"

"I finished up a little early, so I thought I'd save you the drive." Holly said as she got to Gail's desk.

"And I kind of missed you." the brunette whispered as Gail stood and stepped into her personal space.

"Oh really," Gail said, her blue eyes sparkled as she leant forward and kissed Holly softly on the lips.

"Really." Holly whispered into Gail's ear as she held onto the lapels of her leather jacket.

Holly watched as Gail's pupils dilated, she smirked. She loved teasing the blonde, and she had a feeling that this weekend would lead to far more than just teasing. Before she knew what was happening she felt Gail's hands wrap around her thighs and lift her slightly off the ground, pushing her onto the desk behind her. Their lips met, softly at first but soon Gail's tongue was tracing Holly's bottom lip begging for entrance. Holly's lips parted and she let out a low moan. Gail's hands had moved upwards along her thighs and were now firmly clasping her butt. The blonde's lips were trailing down Holly's neck, eliciting the most amazing sensations. Holly was quite sure if she let this carry on they wouldn't make it to dinner. She was about to pull away when she felt Gail stiffen and quickly remove her hands from Holly's body.

She looked up at the blonde's face that just moments ago had been soft and smiling to find a flinty gaze aimed across the room. She watched as the muscles at the sides of Gail's jaw tightened and turned to see who it was that had caused such a reaction. Her eyes fell upon a petite red head that looked to be in her mid-fifties. She wore the well fitted police uniform usually associated with the Brass. Her makeup was perfectly applied and not a hair was out of place. As Holly took in the intruder the red head's stare moved from Gail to her and held.

"Mother," Gail said icily. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Holly's eyes widened suddenly as she realised who was in the room with them, she stood and turned to face the woman who was now scrutinising her with a clinical expression. She felt almost violated by the woman's stare.

"Gail," She said, her eyes not leaving Holly for a second. "I came to see Frank Best and I thought I'd drop by and see you. You seem to be so busy these days that you can't make time for family. You've managed to miss the last two family dinners." Her eyes finally left Holly and settled back on her daughter. "That's not acceptable."

Holly was shocked by the lack of emotion she saw behind the blue eyes that now held Gail's gaze.

"I'm sorry to disappoint mother but with the retirement of Heath and Bramley within a week of each other and Callaghan being undercover we've been a bit swamped." Gail said in a flat tone.

"You seem to have found time for… other things though." Elaine Peck said with a hint of disdain as she once again focused her attention on Holly who squirmed inwardly under her stare.

Holly felt more than saw Gail's hands tighten into fists, she resisted the urge to reach out and touch her. Silence filled the room for a few beats before Elaine spoke again.

"Gail, don't be rude. I believe introductions are in order." she said as she stepped closer.

"Of course, where are my manners," Gail muttered with a hint of sarcasm. "Dr Holly Steward, I'd like you to meet Superintendent Elaine Peck." She said. "My mother." She added, almost as an afterthought.

Elaine's eyebrow rose almost imperceptibly as she shook Holly's proffered hand. Gail knew immediately that her mother knew who Holly was and by the end of the day she would probably know her whole life story, from her favourite colour to the name of her college roommate.

"It's lovely to meet you Superintendent," Holly said politely.

"Likewise," Elaine said as she dropped her hand. She turned her attention back to Gail. "I expect you at Sunday lunch this weekend. No excuses." Her tone left no room for negotiation, this was an order.

Gail's jaw tightened, "Yes mother." She said.

"Good," Elaine said as she nodded to Holly in greeting before turning on her heel to leave.

VI

Gail had been quiet all through dinner and Holly suspected the impromptu visit from her mother was to blame. It hadn't helped that she had caught them in a somewhat compromising position, at work no less. It had surprised her that the Superintendent hadn't commented on it. When they got to the car and Gail's pensive, quite mood had not changed Holly began to worry that she may be having second thoughts now that in all likelihood her mother knew they were together. It felt like Gail was going through the motions as she parked two blocks down from Holly's apartment and hopped out of the SUV, coming round to open the brunette's door.

For the first time since being in the office earlier Gail looked into Holly's eyes and smiled. That singular action made Holly feel far more at ease than she had all night. She took the hand that Gail offered her as they began to make their way down the street in the general direction of Holly's place.

Holly could practically hear the gears turning in Gail's mind as they walked slowly down the sidewalk. Gail was rhythmically brushing her thumb up and down Holly's when she suddenly stopped, causing Holly to turn and look at her questioningly.

Gail opened her mouth but no words came out. She shook her head and tried again. "I um… I don't want to date anyone else." She said quickly.

Holly smiled, "Okay." She wasn't quite sure what Gail was getting at here.

"And I don't want you seeing anyone else either." She paused, staring down at her shoes, "I guess what I'm getting at is I want you. I want you to be mine and I want to be yours and I want people to know. Including my mother." She said, meeting Holly's gaze. "I'm not good at this kind of stuff," Gail said as she motioned with her hand between the two of them. "I screw stuff up Holly, I'm not good with people." She said and sighed.

Holly stepped into Gail's space and lifted her chin with her finger, their lips mere millimeters apart. "You're good with me," She said softly, "That's all that matters." Holly kissed the blonde then, slowly and with so much soul that she was sure it caused a ripple in time.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everybody, hope you are all well and enjoying the holidays. As I promised, the next instalment of Culpable Homicide can be found below. I wanted to get it out there for you all so I hope you enjoy it. It felt a little disjointed while I was writing it so I hope it turned out okay. As always, every favourite, follow and especially reviews absolutely make my day so thanks heaps, you guys all rock. I thought long and hard about the song that Gail sings to Holly at the end, I decided to go for something home grown, the artists' name is Matthew Mole and the song is Have I told you. He has a great voice and happens to be a real sweetheart too so if you are interested check him out, even if it's just the song I've mentioned so you know how it's supposed to sound.

As always, all the Rookie blue Characters belong to Tassie Cameron et al. The lyrics are those of Taylor swift and Matthew Mole, I own nothing!

Also, no beta so let me know if you come across something funny so I can fix it.

**Chapter 8**

**I**

Gail woke the next morning with a smile on her lips. All her limbs were still tangled up with Holly's and it was glorious. It seemed that she had figured out one sure fire way of tiring Holly out enough to get her to sleep past six a.m. Her smile widened when Holly tightened her grip on her when she tried to move toward the edge of the bed, her girlfriend was possessive it seemed. She liked the way it sounded, her girlfriend. She turned her head and inspected the brunette as she lay, still slumbering, behind her and bit her lip. Every time she blinked her mind was assaulted with glorious images from last night.

Holly's hands tracing every inch of her skin, her tongue sliding over the line of her hip, her teeth grazing over a sensitive nipple. Her breath caught and her heart rate picked up as she felt her desire for Holly begin to build again. She reached out a hand and began to trail her fingertips up Holly's exposed thigh where it peaked out from under the sheet that was haphazardly draped over the two of them only to be rudely reminded of why she had woken in the first place, this was not what her bladder had had in mind. She sighed and tried again to squirm out of the brunette's grasp.

Holly, it seemed, had other ideas. She mumbled and held on tighter. Gail chuckled, "Babe," She whispered into Holly's ear, "You need to let go for just a second, I need to go to the bathroom."

Holly opened one eye and peered at Gail through her messy hair. It was one of the sexiest things Gail had ever seen. "Just a second?" Holly asked, not moving an inch.

Gail nodded and bit her bottom lip again to keep the smile off of her face. Holly grumbled and withdrew her arm, turning as Gail withdrew the sheet and jogged to the bathroom butt naked. Holly propped herself up on her elbow to watch Gail's disappearing, sexy bum. She let out a contented sigh and collapsed back onto the pillows beneath her head, breathing in deeply, she could smell Gail on her pillow. She smiled and pulled it closer, hugging it to her chest. She felt the bed dip behind her as Gail slipped back under the sheet, seconds later a hand slipped over her hip and began to caress her stomach.

Gail pulled her backwards toward her and pressed her front firmly into Holly's back, her nose coming to rest at the nape of the brunette's neck. Her lips brushed gently against Holly's neck as her hand began to trace over her ribs on its upward journey. Holly's breath hitched as Gail's hand cupped her breast and began to knead it gently while her teeth sank into the soft muscle at the junction of the brunette's neck and shoulder. That would most definitely leave a mark. Holly practically purred as Gail's fingers deftly worked her nipple, she needed to kiss her and it needed to happen right now.

Before Gail even realised what had happened she found herself underneath the brunette with a thigh perfectly positioned between hers. Holly's messy hair framed her beautiful face as she looked down at the blonde. Gail could see how turned on she was with one look at her dilated pupils.

"Those are some moves you have there Dr Stewart," Gail said as she ran her hands down her girlfriend's back.

Holly chuckled, "far more where that came from." She said as she leant forward and kissed Gail thoroughly.

**II**

Gail had only made it about ten metres down the hall from Holly's apartment on Sunday morning before turning around and jogging back to kiss Holly goodbye again. She knew she was turning into a big ball of squishy feelings that she normally despised but she just couldn't help it. That crazy beautiful woman did things to her, good things. And she liked it, who would have guessed.

The only stain on her weekend was the fact that instead of spending her Sunday much like she had spent her Saturday, naked in Holly's bed, she was now on her way to her parents' house for family lunch. She frowned and grumbled to herself as she started her SUV and pulled out into traffic. At least she had something to look forward to after lunch; Holly had promised her a relaxing afternoon filled with cheese puffs, Orphan Black and of course her company. Gail smiled as she pulled into the drive that belonged to her parents' stately home, knowing that she only had to bare their company for a few hours before returning to Holly's.

The Pecks came from old money, money that had been cleverly invested over the years. Not many were aware of just how much they actually had and that was the one thing about her parents that Gail actually respected, they weren't the type to flaunt their wealth. Gail had so far refused to touch the substantial amount her grandfather had set aside for her in a trust fund when she had turned twenty one. She had left it all in the capable hands of her financial advisor whom she spoke to briefly once a year, he assured her that her investments where showing substantial growth.

She locked her car and made her way to the front door past Steve's mustang. Her Father must have seen her approaching through the library window as the door opened as she reached the top step. Her father had always had a little bit of a soft spot for Gail; he just wasn't all that good at actually showing his affection. Gail gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she entered and accepted the single malt he offered her before making her way into the library where she found Steve sprawled out on one of the leather arm chairs.

Gail walked past him, thumping his shoulder as she went by before claiming her seat near the window.

Steve rubbed his shoulder and pretended for a minute that he was actually hurt before he got a mischievous look in his eye which he quickly focused on Gail.

"So I happened to bump into Dov at the station this morning when I was dropping off some paper work and he mentioned something interesting." Steve said, watching Gail's face closely.

Gail pretended to be bored, "Oh yeah," she said nonchalantly. Not making eye contact with her brother as he continued to watch her closely.

"Mmm," Steve hummed, "Said you hadn't been home in two days and hadn't answered any of his texts."

Gail narrowed her eyes at Steve. "What did you say?" She asked suspiciously.

"Oh nothing really, just that you may come home far less frustrated and in a good mood." Steve wiggled his eyebrows at his little sister. "So how's Holly? Is she a minx in bed? She looks like she might be; it's always the quiet ones."

Steve watched as his comments had the desired effect on his sister. She stiffened as he continued to smirk at her. He loved getting Gail all riled up, but what happened next he hadn't anticipated.

Gail looked him right in the eye and shrugged, "Minx doesn't quite cover it, my girlfriend is a tiger in the bedroom." She stated nonchalantly.

Steve sat there; drink in hand staring at Gail who looked very pleased with herself. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by their mother who breezed into the room and announced that they would be taking lunch out on the patio in five minutes. Gail stood and made her way passed Steve, still flaunting a satisfied smirk on her face.

He jogged up behind her as she walked out onto the patio and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "My sister the lady killer," he whispered in her ear conspiratorially, pulling her into his side as they both chuckled.

"What are you two whispering about over there," Elaine asked as she watched the look pass between her children.

"Nothing," Steve answered far too quickly. He dropped his arm from Gail's shoulder and took his seat opposite his sister and winked at her across the table.

Gail just shook her head at her ridiculous brother as she remembered why she loved him so much.

**III**

They had managed to make it through three courses without incident and Gail had begun to relax after her first glass of wine when her mother had yet to bring up the scene she had witnessed at the station on Friday evening. She was beginning to think she may have forgotten when desert was served and she had still not said a word. Gail had just put her first forkful of pecan nut pie in her mouth when Elaine cleared her throat.

"So Gail," her mother started, pinning her with her steely gaze. "Tell me about Holly Stewart."

Steve coughed as he almost breathed in a piece of pie crust and looked cautiously between his sister and his mother.

Gail pulled out her patented shrug, "She's the new forensic pathologist. I've worked a couple of cases with her. She is very good at her job." She shoveled a piece of pie into her mouth and chewed slowly, never taking her eyes off her mother. She swallowed her pie and broke off another piece and stabbed it with her desert fork, pausing midway to her mouth. "I also happen to be dating her." She said as she popped the piece into her mouth.

Steve stared at his sister, his pie all but forgotten. His eyes flicked over to his mother who did nothing but nod and continue to eat her pie.

The whole table was silent for several minutes before Elaine broke the silence once again. "Gail you will have to bring Dr Stewart to our next family dinner, your father and I would love to meet her officially." She said as she began to gather the dishes.

Gail narrowed her eyes at her mother, the woman was definitely up to something, she just had no idea what yet. She looked at Steve who still seemed to be in his own world. His pie still untouched. She glanced back at her mother and when she was sure she wasn't paying her any attention she reached across the table and stole Steve's leftover desert from right under his nose.

**IV**

The siblings made their way out the front door together after saying their goodbyes to their parents. Gail could see that Steve was itching to say something about what happened earlier between Gail and their mother. He grabbed her arm as she made for her SUV, turning her so he could look her in the eye.

"What the hell was that with mother? She didn't even blink an eye when you admitted to dating Holly. Something is definitely going on." He said as he leaned against his car.

Gail chuckled, "She may have had a bit of a heads up concerning Holly and I. She sort of walk in on us in the D's office on Friday afternoon, I had my hands wrapped around her butt and we were kissing."

"Well that explains her lack of shock but still, she seemed oddly okay with it. You didn't even get a lecture about the responsibilities of upholding the Peck name." He said. He hesitated for a second before voicing his next thought. "I kind of thought she would blow up about you dating a woman."

"Oh she's definitely plotting something, I'm sure of it. I just don't know what it is yet." Gail said. "Frankly, I don't actually care what she says or does, Holly is a part of my life and I have no intention of letting anything get in the way of that. She's something special Steve." She all but whispered the last bit, not looking at her brother as she said it.

He nodded and reached out to squeeze her arm, an unspeakable amount passed between the two with just one look. Before the emotional girth of the moment could overwhelm them Steve grinned, "You are so whipped."

Gail withdrew her arm from his grasp and socked him on the bicep. "Am not!" She said indignantly.

He laughed, "You totally are."

"Whatever," Gail muttered as she turned on her heel and marched away from her brother. He was right; she was totally and utterly whipped.

Steve smiled as he waved when Gail went by. She flipped him the bird as she went, making him laugh harder.

**V**

It had been two weeks since what Gail considered to be the most uneventful Peck lunch she had ever attended. Her mother had emailed her three days ago to remind her about the next family dinner that was scheduled for two weeks' time and that Holly was to be invited. She had yet to broach the subject with her girlfriend; she wasn't quite sure how to ask. Meeting the parents was kind of serious and Gail wasn't sure if they were at that stage yet. She sighed and threw the pencil she had been chewing on down on the desk as she put her feet up and looked around the room.

It had been a bit of a slow week, the unusually warm weather seemed to be making everyone a little lethargic, including the criminals. Gail pulled at her button down shirt as it stuck to her stomach and watched Chris making his way over to her desk. He smiled at her as he flopped into the chair across from her. He and Dov now knew that she was seeing someone but she had yet to tell them it was Holly.

"You up for a night out at the Penny tomorrow?" Chris asked. "They have a local band playing a set and some karaoke as well. Was wondering if you and your guy would be keen to join in. We were hoping to finally meet the person who gets Gail Peck smiling on a daily basis."

Gail mulled it over for a minute, she wasn't a huge fan of karaoke, she actually hated it. Everyone thought they were an undiscovered idol and tone deaf people irritated her more than most for some reason. She had been meaning to officially introduce Holly as her girlfriend for a while and this was probably as good a time as any. "Yeah, I like that idea." She finally said.

Chris grinned, Gail could see the curiosity eating him up inside. No matter how much he denied it, Chris was a bit of a gossip, and the fact that he didn't know who Gail was dating was driving him a little crazy. "Great," he said. "We'll see you there at seven."

Gail gave him a thumbs up, "Just make sure I don't have to sit too close to Chloe, I won't be held responsible for the actions of any of my limbs if my brain happens to tell them she's being too irritating." she said.

Chris chuckled and shook his head as he made his way back to the bull pen.

Gail hadn't bothered to correct Chris when he'd referred to Holly as her 'guy'. She grinned to herself; she was going to make one hell of an entrance tomorrow night.

**VI**

The Penny was packed when Gail pulled up. She opened the car door for Holly and held out her hand to her. Holly hesitated, the detective picked up on her nerves and laughed, "Come on Hun, it's not like you haven't met them before." She wiggled her fingers and nodded toward the door, "Come on. We are already late."

Holly nudged her glasses up her nose before taking Gail's hand. "I wasn't dating their friend before." She muttered.

"It's going to be fine babe, you are awesome. Trust me; they already love you more than they will ever love me." She said.

Gail opened the door to the penny and stepped over the threshold. She surveyed the crowd and spotted the gang at their usual table. She nodded at Chris as he waved at her and motioned that she was heading to the bar. She turned and took hold of Holly's hand, half having to drag her along behind her.

Chris turned to the rest of their friends. "Gail's here." He said, the excitement seeping out in his voice. Andy and Dov immediately stood to try and pick her out in the crowd, it seemed his curiosity was catching and everyone wanted to get a visual of her date.

Chris's face fell into a look of confusion when he saw Holly following closely behind Gail on her mission to get to the bar. "I thought she was bringing her new boyfriend?" Andy asked from over Chris's shoulder.

The trio watched as the two women made it to the bar and ordered their drinks. What they witnessed next had their mouths hanging open in shock.

The bartender placed a shot of tequila in front of each of the two women in front of him along with a beer. "Liquid courage, come on, down the hatch." Gail said, encouraging Holly to down the shot. Holly screwed up her face as the alcohol burned her throat. Gail laughed and lent in closer, brushing aside a stray piece of hair from the brunettes face.

Their eyes locked and Holly just couldn't help herself, she closed the distance and kissed Gail softly. She felt the blondes lips turn upwards into a smile. She kissed her again and pulled her closer by the lapels of her leather jacket. "Let's go say hi to your friends," Holly whispered against her lips.

Gail smiled smugly as they made their way over to them, Dov's mouth was still hanging open and Andy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Traci chuckled and shoved Chris from behind. Gail certainly knew how to stir things up.

"Well, I for one am glad that it's finally official," Chloe piped up from behind Dov.

"You knew about this?" Dov asked, waving his hand in the general direction of Gail and Holly.

"It's obvious Dov, for goodness sake, don't you have eyes. Gail looks at Holly like a man stranded in the dessert for a week looks at water. I knew the minute I saw them together at the Sullivan crime scene." Chloe shrugged.

The general dumbfounded expressions of the people around the table they were approaching didn't go unnoticed by Holly who immediately slowed down and tightened her grip on Gail's hand. The blonde turned to look over her shoulder at her questioningly. Holly narrowed her eyes, "You didn't tell them we were dating," she said.

Gail's amused expression changed into a mischievous grin, "More fun this way, need to keep these idiots on their toes somehow." She turned back towards the table and once again began to tug Holly along behind her. She figured the faster they got to the table the less time Holly had to think about being mad at her.

After the initial all round surprise Gail's friends all seemed to take the news of her and Holly being a couple really well. There was even a fair amount of good natured teasing, aimed entirely at Gail, which she took surprisingly well. Holly had been content to sit and watch the blonde interact with her friends while she sipped her beer and had a quiet conversation with Traci.

Traci had been watching Holly as she smiled when Gail somehow managed to get Dov to laugh at just the right time so he ended up with beer running out of his nose. "You make her Happy." Traci said, placing a hand on Holly's forearm and squeezing it gently. "It's been a while since I've seen her smile like that, like she means it."

Something in Traci's voice made Holly turn away from the scene she was watching to look at the detective; she saw sadness in the women's face for just a moment before she smiled again. She squeezed Holly's arm again, "I'm glad she found you." She said. The brunette knew there was a story behind Traci's words, but now was not the time nor the place to ask her about it, instead she placed her hand over the detective's and patted it gently.

The frivolity was interrupted by a burly man who had made his way up onto the makeshift stage across the room. He cleared his throat into the microphone in an attempt to get everyone's attention before he began to address the crowded bar.

"Oh crap!" Chris suddenly looked sheepishly at Gail. "Gail, I'm so sorry." He began to lament as the blonde looked at him with a confused look on her face. "It was supposed to be a joke. I thought it would be…" Chris's little monologue was drowned out by the big guy on stage.

"How's everybody doing?" He shouted at the crowd. "You guys enjoying the karaoke so far?" A couple of whoops sounded out around the place. "So, we have a very special performance coming up and it's going to be the last one before we get some real musicians up here to entertain you all."

The theme song to the good, the bad and the ugly began to play in the background. "They say she can kill a man at a hundred paces with nothing but her icy stare…" the man whispered into the microphone before adding, "Give it up for detective Gail Peck!"

Gail turned and narrowed her eyes as she glared at Chris. "You are so dead," She said. Chloe, Andy and Dov had taken it upon themselves to push Gail through the crowd and up onto the stage.

Holly laughed at their antics as Gail tried to make a run for it as they passed the door. "I didn't know she could sing." She said looking toward Traci who chuckled.

"She normally only does it when she is very, very drunk. Whoever thought this would be a good idea is going to pay dearly for it later, I can tell you that with certainty." Traci chuckled again as she watched Gail begrudgingly take the microphone from the big guy up on stage who scampered away quickly when Gail turned her death stare on him.

Holly began to laugh heartily when she heard the first few seconds of Taylor Swift's Blank Space coming through the speakers; she'd actually caught Gail humming it in the shower a few days ago. She suspected that Gail actually liked the song but would never admit it. She turned when Chris placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Holly; I thought it would be funny to get her to sing this tonight. I thought she was bringing some random guy and I wanted to embarrass her a bit you know. If I'd known it was you I never would have done it." He said.

Holly grinned at him, "Relax Chris," She said, "Don't worry about it."

What she was about to say next died on her lips as Gail began to sing.

_Nice to meet you_

_Where you been?_

_I could show you incredible things_

Holly's mind went blank and her jaw dropped as she focused on Gail as she sang. The crowd also seemed to be rather appreciative of Gail's performance as the wolf whistles started to ring out and people began to cheer her on, but Holly heard none of it. She was entirely focused on her girlfriend. "Wow," She whispered to no one in particular. Her voice was nothing short of amazing.

_Cause we__'__re young and we__'__re reckless_

_We'll take this way too far and leave you breathless_

_Or with a nasty scar_

_Got a long list of ex-lovers_

_They'll tell you I__'__m insane_

_But I got a blank space baby_

_And I__'__ll write your name._

Holly hadn't actually been paying all that much attention to any of the lyrics that Gail had been singing, she was totally mesmerised by the sound of her voice. It was as if she had lost the ability to process anything in that big brain of hers right now, she couldn't take her eyes off Gail who now seemed to be reluctant to leave the stage. She was now whispering to a rather Gangly kid who had been carrying musical instruments up on stage.

She looked over at Traci and frowned. Traci just shrugged; she was as confused as Holly as she watched Gail slip the kid some money before picking up one of the acoustic guitars he's just carried on.

Gail slung the strap over her shoulder as the kid appeared behind her with a stool and put the microphone onto a stand in front of her. She played a few chords just to familiarise herself with the guitar before she spoke. "So um, I didn't get to choose the first song I had to sing so I think it's only fair that I get to do another." She looked straight at Holly for the first time since she had been up on the stage, "This one's for you."

Gail's eyes never left Holly's as she sang.

_The clothes that you wear_

_The__ colour__ of your hair_

_The music that you share_

_I guess that I like you_

_And the way you pronounce an S is,_

_Like the feeling I have next to you is,_

_Beautiful,_

_You are beautiful._

_I'd like to spend the night with you,_

_We'd crunch your cereal and choose,_

_To bench press through the early hours._

_You are the puddle of mud in the pigsty of my life_

_And I hope that you know what I'm trying to say to you,_

_I guess that I love you._

Holly didn't hear another word of the song after that; Gail's eyes said it all. "She loves me." Was the only thing running through her mind on repeat. Before she even realised it she was on her feet making her way through the crowd to the stage. She came to a halt in front as Gail played the last chord.

The blonde stood, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans. She smiled shyly down at Holly. "Hi." She said softly.

"Hi yourself," Holly said, tilting her head to the left. She beckoned Gail closer and wrapped her arms around her thighs, lifting her off the stage as she turned. She loosened her grip on the blonde slightly, allowing her to slide down the front of her body until she was standing in front of her. Holly leant in and kissed her then, she didn't care that they were standing in the middle of a crowded bar, she didn't hear the wolf whistles and cat calls around them. All she saw, all she heard, all she tasted, was Gail.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everyone… I know, I know. A lot of you thought I had died or been sucked into a black hole but as you can see, still here. I'm so sorry for the super long wait but my life has been a total disaster for the last three months. Luckily I managed to make it through my FCS intermediates, with my sanity mostly intact and now it's just a waiting game until the results come out, hold thumbs. I'll stop rambling now, here is chapter 9. Let me know what you think. Every favourite, follow and review puts a huge smile on my face. You guys rock my world!

Chapter 9

I

Gail walked into 15 with a rather large smile plastered across her face. After singing for Holly the night before, the brunette could not get out of the bar fast enough. The pathologist had taken her straight home and had practically pounced on her the minute they were through her apartment door. If she had known that Holly would react this way she would have told her she loved her sooner, she'd known for a long time how deep her feelings for Holly ran. She just hadn't found the right time to voice them out loud, until last night that is.

Gail chuckled to herself as she made her way across the bullpen to the D's office. She had surprised herself last night, the song was very spur of the moment and definitely something she wouldn't normally do. She would never in a million years have stood up in front of hundreds of people and professed her love for anyone. But she had, for Holly. That woman did things to her, and it still scared her a little but it was totally worth it.

Gail stopped as the thought stuck in her mind, Holly was totally worth it. Oliver's voice dragged her out of her reverie, "Peck, Nash," He said, "My office."

Traci looked over at Gail, who shrugged. She too was in the dark as to what the summons could possibly be about.

Both detectives took the chairs across from Oliver as he flopped down behind his desk.

Oliver cleared his throat, "You two will be pleased to know that we've just appointed two new detectives."

Before Oliver could finish, Traci let out a whoop and high fived Gail. She sighed in relief, "Thank God!" she said, "I was starting to wonder if I'd actually get to spend some decent time with my son before he goes off to college."

Oliver snorted, "Dramatic much?" He asked.

Traci just grinned and turned her palms up.

Oliver shuffled some pages till he found what he was looking for, "So, as of tomorrow, Gail, you will be paired with Detective Mills and Nash, your new partner will be Detective Levine.

Gail immediately put her hand up to stop Oliver, "Hold up there Oli, what the hell? Why do we have to be split up, come on we are like Starskey and Hutch. You don't split up the A team. Back me up here Trace."

"Well I would have gone for Cagney and Lacey or two of the Charlie's angels girls but sure, Gail and I work really well together Sarg, splitting us up now would be a mistake." Traci said as Gail nodded fervently next to her.

"There is nothing I can do about it ladies, both the newbs are out of Towner's so I need to stick them with good people who are deep in these streets, and that's you two. They are both outstanding detectives with more than ten years on the job so you can both learn from them. And they can learn from you too. That's how it's got to be." Oliver said with a tone of strict finality.

"I hate you right now," Gail grumbled as she crossed her arms across her chest and pouted.

Oliver snickered, "No you don't Darlin', you love me. I know these things." He winked at her as she pushed her bottom lip out further. "Now get out of my office, I have important work to do."

He chuckled as he watched the retreating backs of his two favourite detectives. They would get over it sooner or later.

II

Holly was standing in front of her stove stirring the Gorgonzola, white wine and bacon sauce she was planning on serving with fillet and fettuccine she was preparing for dinner. There was a lovely green salad chilling in the refrigerator, minus the tomatoes of course, the homemade pasta was boiling and the steaks literally just needed to be thrown onto the griddle pan for a few minutes a side. She was tasting the sauce when she heard her front door open as Gail made her way into the apartment. She could tell by the noises coming from the other room that her cop was on the wrong side of grumpy.

Gail dumped her bag near the door with more force than required and stomped around taking her shoes off. She padded into the kitchen grumbling, "You should really learn to lock that front door of yours nerd."

Holly half turned and smiled at the blonde, "I only leave it open when I know you are on your way." She said as she turned back to the sauce. "Dinner is almost ready."

Gail moved in behind her girlfriend and put her chin on her shoulder, inhaling deeply. She loved breathing Holly in, it made everything just fade away. She focused on the scent of Holly's skin as her arms moved to wrap around the brunette's waist. Holly felt Gail start to relax as she nuzzled into her neck and began to brush her lips against her skin. She felt the shiver run down her spine when Gail's lips pressed into the sensitive spot just below her ear.

Holly hummed and put one of her hands on top of Gail's, which had begun to trace patterns on her stomach. "Baby," She whispered, "If you don't stop doing that dinner is going to go to waste."

She felt Gail pout against her neck and that made her smile. "Okay," Gail sighed, "But only because it smells so good right now and I'm so hungry that if you hadn't cooked I would have been tempted to eat my own shoe."

Holly chuckled, that was such a Gail response. "Go set the table and I'll bring the plates through in a minute. Grab the salad from the fridge on your way."

Gail started to grumble about the salad but before she could get too vocal Holly slapped her bum and pointed at the fridge, "Off you go, and if you don't eat your greens there'll be no dessert for you missy."

Gail huffed but did as she was told. A few minutes later they were siting around the table enjoying their meal. Gail groaned as she sliced off another perfectly cooked piece of steak and chewed it with her eyes closed. "What did you put in this sauce, oh my god! Its like crack, I think I'm instantly addicted." She groaned again.

Holly wondered if it was weird that she even found Gail cute when she was talking with her mouth full of food. The blonde finished every morsel on her plate; even the mountain of salad Holly had piled onto it.

Holly stood once Gail had finished her meal and bussed the empty plates, returning from the kitchen moments later with two bowls containing chocolate fondant and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Gail was so focused on her pudding that she didn't notice Holly placing a small black box near her right hand before returning to her seat. It only caught Gail's eye when her first spoonful was half way to her mouth, she froze, the spoon still hanging in mid air, and looked at it quizzically before shifting her gaze to Holly who was watching her with a lop sided grin on her face.

Gail started to panic internally, had she forgotten something, a special date? Her mind flicked quickly through the possibilities but came up with nothing.

Holly chuckled as she watched the look of confusion cross over Gail's face as she looked at the small black box.

"Go on," Holly prompted, "Open it." Her hands began to play with the edge of the tablecloth, the movement being the only thing to give away her nervousness.

Gail slowly lowered her still heaped spoon and reached for the box. She traced over the lid with her fingertips, feeling the rough texture as her fingers travelled over it. She lifted the lid in one swift motion and stared into the bottom, her eyes fell onto a single silver key attached to a key ring with a small skeleton on the one end. Gail lifted it gently from the box and let it rest in the palm of her hand as she stared at it.

"It's a key to the front door," Holly blurted out, "So, you know, you can get in and I don't have to leave the door open. And you can come by whenever you want, if you want to…" Holly had started to ramble and was now pulling quite vigorously at the tablecloth. She hadn't even noticed that Gail had stood and come around to her side of the table, her ramble was cut short by the blonde's soft lips, gently pushed against her own. Gail pulled away and looked deeply into Holly chocolate eyes before leaning back in and brushing her lips over Holly's again. She stepped back and held her hand out to the brunette. Holly took it and allowed Gail to pull her up, pudding forgotten to melt, she followed her up the stairs to her bedroom with a contented smile on her face.

III

Gail was behind her desk half an hour earlier than normal this morning; she scanned the document open on her computer screen. It wasn't something that she did often but she had logged into the system with her mother's log in details to research her new partner. She wanted to know whom she would be dealing with; she needed to be sure that her new partner was someone that would have her back.

Getting her mother's passwords had been a fluke; she had come across five variations in her home office when she had been in college. Granted they were in a place Gail shouldn't have been, she still thought it was rather stupid to keep them written down, even if they had been in a locked desk drawer.

She looked at the picture of a fresh-faced cadet looking out at her from the screen. She was quite beautiful, her dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun just below her hat, her expressive brown eyes looking straight into the camera and she had flawless olive skin. Gail noticed a small scar running through her right eyebrow but what should have been a blemish only added character to her beautiful face.

Charlotte Mills' resume was superb. She was practically the perfect cop. Rising through the ranks quickly, specialist courses in hostage negotiation and profiling under her belt, a spotless record and an impressive case closure rate were but a few highlights. Gail was impressed, begrudgingly so but still more than a little impressed. She could only hope that over ten years on the job as a detective hadn't left her jaded.

She wondered why Detective Mills had moved from Vancouver, she seemed to be on the fast track there, was there a skeleton hiding somewhere in her closet? Before she could snoop any further she saw two new faces entering the D's office and following Oliver up the stairs to his office. He beckoned to Gail with his head as she watched him over the monitor. She gave a silent nod and closed the open document before standing to head over to the group.

She came to a stop just outside the doorway and leant on the frame, quietly taking in the two new detectives. She recognized Mills from the photo, she was older and her hair was a bit shorter but age had somehow only managed to make her more beautiful. There was just a presence about her that seemed to draw everyone in a room towards her.

Gail's eyes flickered momentarily towards who she could only assume was Levine. He was tall and appeared to be well built under his suite, which was immaculately tailored. He looked like he stepped right off the cover of GQ. His sandy blonde hair was the only thing that seemed out of place, it seemed to just flop forward over his brow no matter how many times he swept it back. He had deep laugh lines on his face and a sparkle to his blue eyes that would probably make most women swoon. Even so, Gail's attention was immediately back on her partner, running over every inch of her, drinking her in.

Oliver's voice drew her out of her inspection as he introduced her to the new detectives. Levine smiled, showing off a set of perfect white teeth, his voice deep as he greeted her, a slight French lilt evident. Mills' chocolate eyes locked onto hers for a second, appraising her as she gave nothing more than a curt nod before turning away. Not the talkative type, Gail surmised, she hadn't said a word since she'd stepped into the office. That suited Gail just fine; she had been worried that Mills may have taken after Chloe, which would have been an absolute disaster.

Charlotte Mills had felt the eyes of the young detective on her since the moment she had stepped through the doors. She had appraised her silently from the corner of her eye as Oliver Shaw spoke while Gail nonchalantly strolled over and leant on the doorframe. She had seen the way that Sargent Shaw's eyes had softened when he glanced at her, how a slight smile tugged at the side of his mouth as the blonde glared at him. This one was special to him and she was intrigued to know why.

Mc Nally interrupted their round of introductions, "Got a floater out near the docks sarg, looks like we need the D's out there."

Oliver rubbed his hands together, "Little Peck, seems like the perfect case for you and Mills to sink your teeth into." He said. "Take Mc Nally with you."

If Gail hadn't been scowling at him before, the mention of Mc Nally's name deepened her frown lines considerably.

"Don't give me that look, I might change my mind and send Price instead. Now get. Go do some real police work and if you are good there may be a doughnut waiting for you when you get back." He grinned at her as she just huffed.

"C'mon Mills, you heard the man." She grumbled as she turned away and made her way down the stairs, pulling her jacket on as she wlked.

Mills had watched the interaction with interest, she was quite sure that if it had been anyone else who had spoken to Peck like that they probably would have earned a punch to the face. Although young in appearance her eyes betrayed a certain maturity. Mills got the feeling that the spoilt brat attitude was nothing but a well-kept rouse. She smirked as she heard Gail throw an "I'm driving," over her shoulder as they wove through the desks.

IV

The ride down to the docks had been quite, Mills had spent most of it staring out of the window, taking in the streets and buildings as they passed by. Gail didn't mind the quite at all, in fact it was a welcome change to being anywhere near Price or Mc Nally.

They pulled to a stop behind one of the forensics vans and Gail immediately began to sweep the area looking for Holly's SUV. It had become a habit of hers when she got to every crime scene she worked these days. She smiled when she spotted it on the curb a few meters away under a large tree.

She adjusted her leather jacket over her gun and started towards the area that seemed to be drawing the most commotion with Mills close on her heels.

As they approached the sea of officers, techs and sundry personal, they seemed to shift as one out of the path of the young detective that marched on in front of her. Some seemed to wear a look of real fear in their eyes when they spotted Gail. Mills smirked, she was sure if she asked around she'd hear a few colourfully stories about her new partner.

They came to a stop near the waters edge where a much fresher corpse than Gail was expecting lay stretched out on the concrete slab before them. She watched for a few beats as Holly's gloved fingers went about her preliminary examination of the body. "You know Doc, parking in a tow away zone can get you a hefty fine." Gail said, cocking her head to the side as Holly looked up and smiled at her.

"Well it's a good thing I happen to know someone who can help me out with that," she said, winking at Gail and making the colour rise in her cheeks just a tiny bit.

Gail cleared her throat, "This is my new partner, Charlotte Mills. Mills came in from Vancouver. Started here with us this morning. Mills, this is one of our best forensic pathologists, Dr Holly Stewart."

Mills' focused gaze travelled over the doctor taking her in in one swoop, affording Holly no more than the same curt nod Gail had gotten this morning. As if satisfied with what she saw she asked, "What have we got here Doc?"

"Male, early twenties, can't have been in the water for more than four or five hours. No I.D but I did find several packets of water logged cocaine in a few of his pockets." Holly said, running through what she knew so far. "Single bullet wound to the back of the head, no exit. Probably a small calibre hand gun."

Mills had learnt a long time ago how to multi task efficiently. While taking in every word the pathologist was saying she began to scan her surroundings to get the lay of the land as her eyes swept across the landscape. A small movement caught her eye near one of the buildings closer to the water. She turned her body slightly toward it but purposefully did not focus too much attention on the area. Sure enough, a few seconds later she saw a grey beanie covered head pop out from behind a wall, followed shortly afterwards by the gangly body of a young man. His skin was pale and he appeared agitated, the way his eyes kept flickering over to the group of police around the area making Mills inherently suspicious of him.

Gail noted her partner's subtle change in demeanour when she nonchalantly placed her hand on her gun, popping the leather strap securing it in its holster. The blonde's eyes followed Mills' gaze to where she was watching the young guy pretend to lean casually against the building. Gail cleared her throat softly to get Charlotte's attention. Her eyes met Gail's and she tilted her head towards the youth. Gail nodded and pointed slightly to her left, signalling that she would make her way round the back.

"Be back in a minute doc," Gail said as Holly nodded and continued her examination of the body.

Gail slid through the officers making a bee line for the back of the building while Mills decided a more direct approach was required. She made no effort to hide the fact that she was walking right over to the young man. When he realized that she was making her way over to him he slipped into the shadows and cut to the ally behind the building, only to come face to face with Gail picking her way through the rubble scattered behind the building.

She smiled at him as he tried to back track once more. "Hi," She called out with a small wave. "My name is Detective Peck and that over there is my partner Detective Mills. We noticed you over here and thought maybe you might have seen something that could help us." She smiled again, trying to reassure the guy. He was starting to look antsier with every step closer the two women took. His eyes darting from one to the other.

"I didn't see nothing," he said, anxiously scanning his surroundings until his eyes fell onto a small corridor between two buildings to his right. Before Gail could say another word the kid had taken off down the corridor with Mills in hot pursuit.

Gail groaned dashing through the rubble behind her partner, "Seriously!"

Mills was surprisingly fast and agile but even so Gail was gaining quickly. Just before she reached them Mills took a dive onto the kids back, bringing him down onto what looked like a pile of old newspapers. Her cuffs were off her belt in a flash. "Stop struggling kid," she mumbled while trying to cuff his flailing hands.

Gail bent to help Charlotte get a handle on the kid. For someone so gangly he was a lot stronger than he looked. Probably also didn't help that he was as high as a kite.

"I got this," Mills growled as Gail made a grab for the kid's arm. Gail took her eyes off of the kid for a second to look over at Mills; she was only trying to help. That second was all it took for the kid to free one arm from Mills' grasp and pull it back vigorously, his elbow connecting with Gail's left eye with a thud.

"SON OF A BITCH!," Gail swore as she stumbled backward, narrowly missing a pile of junk and luckily avoiding a fall as well. She saw stars as she clasped a hand over her eye. She felt something hot pouring onto her fingers. As she leant forward she watched the blood dripping to the floor with her good eye. She blinked a few times but to no avail, the eye was already starting to swell shut.

By now Mills had managed to subdue the youth and had pulled him to his feet. She looked over to her partner. Taking in the blood and her swollen, already half way to being blue left eye. "You okay there Peck?" She asked

Gail turned in her general direction. "Yeah, no thanks to you." Gail spat. "You totally got this Mills." She pushed past her partner, hand still tight over her eye as the blood began to trickle down her wrist and stain the cuff of her shirt where it stuck out from the sleeve of her jacket.

Gail stalked towards her parked car, trying to avoid most of the crowd while Mills pulled the kid along by the crook of his elbow.

Gail didn't quite make it past Andy before she caught a look at her face. "Oh my God Gail! What happened to your face?" she said.

"Oh I don't know, maybe you should ask Mills." She said as she yanked open the boot to get at the first aid kit.

Confused, Andy turned to the detective in question who at least had the decency to look a little sheepish.

Mills pushed their suspect into Mc Nally's grasp, "Get this guy back to the station would you?" She said and then turned back to Gail, who was now perched on the edge of the open trunk trying to wipe the blood off of her face with a piece of gauze she'd soaked in antiseptic.

"Here," Mills said, motioning with her hand, "Let me help."

Gail peered at her sceptically through her good eye before handing over the piece of gauze when Mills refused to retract her hand.

Mills gently began to clean the now dried blood from her partners face. After a few silent moments the brunette mumbled an "I'm sorry." So low that Gail almost didn't catch it.

Gail looked up at her from her seat and sighed, "Look Mills, I'm your partner. I've got your back, we are a team. The sooner you get that, the better it will be for both of us."

Mills nodded, "I Know, I'm just used to always being on my own. Back in Vancouver the old boys club populates the D's office. They never overtly told me I didn't belong but I got the picture pretty quick. It took me a long time to just be tolerated around there." She shuffled her feet and apologized again. "We good?" She asked Gail, who just gave her a small nod in reply.

Mills stepped forward again, into Gail's space, taking her chin in her hand. Gail's good eye opened wide, "What are you doing?" She asked apprehensively.

"I need to feel around your eye to see if any of the bones are broken," Mills said as she started to poke at the swollen tissue.

"Ouch!" Gail yelped, swatting away her partner's hand.

"Sit still, this will only take a minute," Mills said, once again reaching in to poke at Gail's face.

"I swear to God Mills, if you touch me one more time I'm going to shoot you." Gail said, reaching over to her gun to punctuate the sentence.

Mills heard a chuckle behind her, "I'd step away slowly if I were you detective." Holly said as she approached the two women.

She took one look at Gail and shook her head, "Can't take you anywhere can I." She said matter-of-factly.

Gail just grumbled as the pathologist took up the position her partner had been in moments before.

She took Gail's face in her hands gently, turning it first to the left, then the right. Before starting to softly palpate the swollen tissue around the eye.

Andy had sidled up next to Mills after placing the strung out youth into her squad car and surveyed the scene as Holly's fingers ghosted over Gail's face with hardly a murmur from the blonde.

"Seriously," Mills threw a hand in Gail's direction, "That's exactly what I was doing and she threatens to shoot me, now she's like a meek little puppy."

Andy just chuckled. "Trust me Mills, she would have threatened to shoot me too. Holly is the only one who is safe in such close proximity to the ice queen. I'd also refrain from using the words meek and puppy in the same sentence when referring to Gail Peck, unless you have a death wish of course."

Mills looked back to the pair. They were a little closer to each other than totally necessary. She watched as Holly's thumb traced down over the Blonde's check and how that simple touch caused the side of Gail's mouth to turn upwards. She saw how Gail's fingertips began to play with the seam on the outside of the brunette's knee.

Realisation struck Mills as she looked on, a silent 'Oh' forming on her lips as she turned away.


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys... sorry about the long wait. Life got in the way. Please check out the new chapter and let me know what you think. As always, I love hearing from you all so please, follow, favourite and review. Feel free to PM as well if you prefer and you can also find me on tumblr... bell2611, so look me up.

**Chapter 10**

I

Holly held Gail's face between her hands once again and smiled down at the scowl on her she found plastered there. Her thumbs traced gently across her cheeks. "You need to go to the hospital and have that check out, make sure there are no broken bones and that your eye is okay." Holly said.

Gail began to grumble but was stopped by the brunette's finger coming to rest authoritatively on her lips. "No, buts Gail. Please, just do this for me." Holly said, putting on a pout that she knew Gail couldn't say no to.

"Fine!" Gail acquiesced, "Just stop with the face."

Holly grinned at her before she turned to look over her shoulder to where Mills stood chatting to Andy. Holly caught the detective's eye and beckoned her over with a head tilt.

"Detective Mills here is going to take you over to Toronto General and make sure you get yourself checked out." Holly said, holding out her hand toward Gail. "Keys," she demanded, waiting until Gail placed the car keys in her hand, still grumbling.

Holly turned back to Mills, dangling the keys out for her to take. "Take care of her," She said. "And don't let her be too rude to the staff."

Her attention fell back on Gail, "Behave yourself." She said softly, looking around carefully before placing a quick kiss on Gail's pouting lips. "If you do, there is far more where that came from saved away for later." She winked at the blonde, letting her hand trail slowly down her arm, giving her hand a squeeze before turning back to the crime scene.

Gail and Charlotte stood eying each other for a few moments before the brunette walked over to the passenger door and opened it for her partner. "The faster we do this, the faster it will be over. Come on, let's get going." Mills said, motioning Gail into the car with her hand.

Their drive to the hospital was made in silence. Gail had closed her good eye the minute she'd collapsed into the passenger seat and only opened it once she felt the car come to a stop at the hospital.

The triage nurse took one look at her as she and Mills came through the front door and directed her straight through into the emergency room. Thankfully there was very little happening so early on a midweek morning and they weren't expecting a long wait.

Gail took a seat on the examination bed the nurse had directed her to and Mills paced around stiffly in front of her. Gail scowled at her partner, "Why don't you make yourself useful and go and pick up some coffee?"

"I'll go as soon as the doctor gets here." Mills said, crossing her arms across her chest.

Gail had opened her mouth, ready to deliver a snarky reply but before she could get anything out she was interrupted by a call from the other side of the emergency room.

"Charlie?" The unknown blonde called out again, a little more worry evident in her voice as she made a beeline towards where Gail sat. Gail frowned and looked to her partner whose posture had stiffened substantially.

Gail watched the two with an amused look on her face. The newly arrived blonde's forehead creased as her eyes ran carefully over the entirety of her partner. The woman reached out and put a hand on Mills' forearm but instead of stiffening further as Gail had expected she watched her partner relax into her touch. The eyebrow above her good eye raised even further when she saw the small smile start to tug at the corners of Mills' mouth. That she hadn't expected.

Gail sat quietly and watched the intimacy of the two's actions. She watched as the blonde reached up and traced her fingers over the ring that hung from a delicate chain around her neck, the glint caught Gail's eye and she focused her gaze onto it. She smiled as realisation hit. She'd noticed the same ring on a similar chain around Mills' neck earlier when she had been poking at her eye.

This little trip to the hospital just became very interesting. Gail began to scrutinise the blonde carefully. She was young, close to her own age. Her blonde hair was long, falling to about mid way down her back, thick and wavy. Gail wondered for a second if she'd ever done a shampoo ad, she had perfect hair. She was taller than Mills' 5ft4" but not quite as tall as Gail herself. She looked fit, maybe a runner, cute smile and lively green eyes.

Gail's scrutiny was cut short by Dr Bradford's approach. "Detective Peck," She said with a wide smile, "Seems I can't keep you out of my emergency room. What have you managed to get up to today?"

Gail chuckled, "Took an elbow to the eye this morning during an arrest. No big deal." She shrugged.

"Hmm," Dr Bradford hummed knowingly. "Let me take a look."

Gail pulled away immediately and eyed her surgeon suspiciously. "Please tell me you aren't going to poke at it too. I really don't want to have to threaten to shoot you as well." She said.

Dr Bradford grinned, "No poking," she said holding up her hands, "I promise." She pulled a small torch from her pocket, "I just want to check your pupils real quick and make sure your eye is moving like it should."

After a quick exam Dr Bradford seemed satisfied with her findings. She turned and beckoned the blonde that Gail had almost forgotten about closer. "Gail, this is Samantha Grayson. She's one of the new interns here, would you mind if I asked her a few questions about your case before we get you down to C.T?"

Gail nodded, inspecting the blonde again with renewed interest. She wondered if the woman in front of her was the reason for her partner's move all the way from Vancouver.

"So, Dr Grayson, why would I be testing detective Peck's eye movements?" Dr Bradford asked.

The blonde cleared her throat before answering, "Well, we need to rule out any muscle entrapment that could occur in conjunction with orbital blow out fractures." She said.

Gail had stopped listening to her doctors and was once again watching her partner, whose attention was firmly fixed on Dr Grayson. A slight smile on her face and an enormous amount of pride in her gaze. Gail took in this new side that her partner was unknowingly showing her and filed it away for later use.

Gail's C.T scan was done and reviewed in no time at all. Luckily, nothing was broken and she was allowed to head home after a review by one of the on staff ophthalmologists. The blonde watched her partner as she scanned the E.R on their way to the door. Gail sighed and stopped abruptly, causing Charlotte to nearly crash into her. She had opened her mouth to admonish the blonde when the blonde held up her hand and cut her off before a word had even left her mouth. "Give me the keys," Gail said, wiggling her fingers impatiently.

Mills frowned at her.

"Now," Gail said, practically snatching them from Mills' fingers. "Now go kiss your girl goodbye and meet me at the car." Gail said as she turned on her heel and marched out the door, leaving a gob smacked brunette in her wake.

II

The traffic was heavy on the drive back to the station. Gail had closed her eyes and had been resting her head back against the headrest since they left the parking lot. Not a word had been said since Mills had returned to the car; they had been driving in total silence for the past half hour.

Gail could feel her partner's eyes on her. "What?" She said grouchily, opening her good eye to look at Mills who's eyes flicked back to the road immediately.

Gail closed her eye and went back to pretending to sleep. She heard her partner sigh. "How did you know?" Mills said.

Gail chuckled, "I'm a detective remember." She opened her eye again and looked over at Charlotte, who now seemed to be far more interested in the bumper in front of her than her partner's piercing one-eyed appraisal. "And I'm sorry to say you didn't really hide it very well. You basically went all gooey eyed the minute she touched you."

Gail let the silence do its work, waiting for Mills to fill it. When she didn't Gail shrugged nonchalantly, closing her eye again and turning away from her partner. She spoke softly this time, "It's really none of my business, and frankly, I don't really want to hear your whole life story, I'd probably get bored." She said. "I don't care who you are sleeping with or who you are married to, as long as you do the job and have my back its all good."

She waited a beat for her words to settle in before turning to look at her partner once more, a mischievous glint in her eye as she add, "But seriously though Mills, I never would have pegged you as a cougar, and your better half is smokin' hot!" Gail said half jokingly to her partner, a fat grin plastered on her bruised face.

Mills snorted a laugh at Gail's words and shot a look at her partner. "She kind of is, isn't she." She said. With that little exchange behind them the tension in the car had eased considerably. The rest of the journey was made in companionable silence other than Gail's request to be dropped at the morgue instead of the station.

III

Gail made her way into the forensics department and waved at Tony as she passed, she knew Holly would be busy with the autopsy of their current case and decided to head to the autopsy suites. She was grateful that Tony was too engrossed in the sports section of the paper he was reading to notice her eye.

She pushed through the doors and looked around until she spotted her girlfriend elbow deep in a thoracic cavity at the first table. She leant against the doorframe and watched her work. Gail loved how engrossed Holly got in her task at hand. How thorough and meticulous she was with everything. It made Gail smile.

Holly's gaze flickered up, catching sight of her girlfriend watching her. "Hey," She said with a smile, "How long have you been standing there?"

Gail pulled out her patented shrug, "Not long." She replied, deciding to take up residence in the chair behind the desk near where Holly was working.

"I'm almost done here, then we can head out, how's the eye?" Holly said as she replaced the heart back where it should be.

Gail slouched into the chair and put her feet up onto the desk, "No rush. Doc says its all good, just a soft tissue injury. swelling and bruising should disappear in a couple of days." She said as she settled in to watch Holly stitch the Y-incision closed.

Holly covered the body and started to pull off her gloves, "That's good news," She said with a smile. "So I was thinking we could pick up some Italian on our way home and just have a quiet night?" Holly said as she washed her hands and pulled off her protective gear.

Gail hummed enthusiastically. "That sounds so good." Her stomach seemed to agree as it chose that moment to voice its opinion on the matter.

Holly chuckled as she gently removed Gail's feet from the desk and came to stand between her parted knees. The blonde's hands automatically moved to her hips, squeezing gently as she pulled her in closer. Her cheek resting against the soft material of Holly's baby blue scrubs. Gail nuzzled into Holly's stomach, trying to get impossibly close, "but first, I think you need to get out of these," Gail said, wrinkling up her nose. "You smell a little like something the cat dragged in"

Holly smiled down at her girlfriend and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she looked like she was about to say something when the doors to the autopsy suite swung open and a tall young man barged in. He looked to be in his early twenties, the lab coat he wore hung loosely from his gangly frame and he stooped a bit, as if trying to hide his tall stature. His eyes were focused on the page in front of him as he began to speak. "Dr Stewart, the tox results for the John Doe they found under the bridge are out…." He trailed off as he took in the two woman in front of him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." He said shyly, a bright read blush creeping onto his stubble-covered cheeks as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

Holly smiled at him as she reluctantly stepped out of Gail's personal space. "It's okay Lloyd," She said as she reached out to take the paper he was holding out to her.

Gail kept her good eye on the young man as he watched Holly. Something about the guy gave her the creeps.

Holly looked up at him, "Well, it looks like we were right about the cause of death, definitely a heroin overdose. Thanks Lloyd, good job. It's late, why don't you head out and I'll lock up here" She said, handing the paper back to him.

Gail noticed how his blush deepened as Holly place a hand on his forearm, the dude definitely had a crush on her girlfriend, that was as plain as day. Gail gave an amused smirk, knowing Holly, she probably hadn't even noticed.

Lloyd had been ignoring Gail so far but turned towards her as he was leaving, she saw his face harden instantly as his gaze fell on her. "Detective," He said with a nod as he left. It made Gail shift uncomfortably in her seat, this guy definitely gave her the creeps.

Gail was quiet while Holly locked up behind them, she was so zoned out she hadn't heard Holly call her name until she'd said it about three times and reached a hand out to touch her arm. "Hey," Holly said worriedly, "Where did you go?"

Gail smiled, "Sorry," she said lacing their fingers together as they took the stairs to the basement. "Is he new?" she asked suddenly, "I haven't seen him around before."

Holly turned her head towards her, "Lloyd?" Holly said, "Yeah, started about two weeks ago. Really sweet guy. One of the best morgue assistants I've had in a long time. He is super organised."

"I bet he is," Gail mumbled under her breath.

Holly squeezed her hand, "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," Gail said, squeezing back. "Guy just gave me the creeps for some reason." She said, "Just be careful around him okay."

Holly looked over at Gail again as they neared her car, the seriousness of her expression giving her pause. "Okay, I will," She said without even questioning Gail further. Somehow she just knew it was important to Gail.

IV

It had been two weeks since Gail had been elbowed in the eye and the only remnant of the incident was the small scar that had begun to form where her eyebrow had split. The blonde was little subconscious about it but Holly loved it, she would plant little kisses on it every chance she got. Just the thought of her lips on her skin made Gail smile.

Gail walked into her girl's office to find the pathologist bent over a pile of boxes with her butt in the air scratching around for something. Gail watched her for a while, admiring the view before her urge to touch got to be too much to suppress. She sidled up behind Holly and slid her hands around the front of her hips pulling her into her own body. Startled, the brunette straightened quickly but relaxed as soon as the citrus whiff of Gail's perfume hit her nose.

"Mmm," Holly hummed, grabbing Gail's hands and pulling her arms tighter around her. The blonde's chin automatically found its way to the crook of Holly's neck and her lips brushed the skin just bellow her ear causing goose bumps to spring to attention in their wake.

"Hey beautiful," Gail whispered as her lips continued to ghost across supple skin, causing Holly's head to fall back onto Gail's shoulder and her eyes to roll back. The detective's hand was about to slip under the hem of Holly's shirt when her phone started to ring. Gail groaned as the A team's theme song came blaring from her back pocket.

Holly chuckled, "I take it that's your partner?" Holly asked as she turned in Gail's embrace, wrapping her arms around the blonde's neck.

"Yup," Gail grumbled, ignoring the phone. "As usual her timing is perfect."

Gail lent in and kissed her lips. Running her tongue over them begging for entrance, relishing the taste of Holly's minty lip balm. The blonde's tongue had just slipped into Holly's mouth when her phone began to ring again. This time she ripped it from her pocket, "What!" She growled into the offending device.

Holly watched as her girlfriend's tempestuous blue eyes settled on hers as she listened. Gone was the warmth and desire she saw mere moments ago. The look that had settled there was all business. "Okay," She said, "We'll meet you there."

Gail reached up and brushed a stray piece of hair behind Holly's ear. "We are going to have to take a rain check. They've found the body of a teenage girl in an abandoned church over in Mount Dennis. Mills and I have caught the case, and so have you apparently. Can I catch a ride out there with you? I told Mills we'd meet her there." She said.

V

Gail and Holly walked into the room to find Mills leaning over the body of a petite Caucasian teenage girl in the middle of the floor of the abandoned parsonage. Gail surveyed the scene quickly, her eyes running over every detail. Everything she saw was screaming staged. All the furniture was paired, there were two arm chairs, both covered in dustsheets. Two lamps, also both covered. In the corner of the room stood an old piano with the small stool slightly askew. Two dining chairs stood on either side of the victim's head, one held a purse and a packet of what appeared to be rotting meat. Both items looked to have been placed neatly onto the chair.

Behind the chair to the left of the victim Gail could see a hammer lying on the ground with what appeared to be blood on it. Her eyes finally fell onto the girl as she drew nearer. Mills stood as she felt a presence behind her and waited for Gail to finish her sweep.

The blonde's eyes dragged over the body. She took in the dirty blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail tied with a red ribbon. She noticed what looked like blunt trauma to the right side of the girl's head, there was some blood sticking her hair to her scalp in the area of her temple. She took in the pristine, conservative little white dress, held close to her waist by a thin red belt. The dress marred by the bloom of dark red, almost brown blood just above the belt where a knife lay lodged to the hilt into the girl's abdomen.

Her eyes continued their journey lower, taking in that the right leg was more exposed than the left, revealing a good bit of the girl's thigh. It was then that she noticed the bruises adorning the inner thigh on the right. She bent to get a closer look, using a pen to life the dress from the left leg to see if the marks were on the left as well. She ground her teeth together when she saw that they were indeed on the left thigh as well. Oval shaped, symmetrical contusions. Bite marks.

She pulled her eyes away from the marks to complete her inspection of the body, all the way down to her little red shoes. She stood abruptly and turned her gaze on her partner who motioned her away from the body so that Forensics could get in to do their job.

Mills stood quietly, waiting for Gail to start talking. She wanted to see what Gail had picked up from the scene. "I don't know about you," The blonde said, "But I get the distinct impression that this has all been staged." Mills just nodded, encouraging her to go on.

"The whole building is deserted and devoid of any furniture besides this room. There is a covered entrance to the back door over there from a dark alley, making it easy for the perp to come and go without being noticed. There isn't even a speck of dust in here at all. Not to mention the body, that dress, that's straight out of the 1930's. There is definitely something hinky going on here." Gail said as she watched Holly looking over the body.

Mills was impressed, a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She actually enjoyed working with the blonde, there was far more to her than she let on. "I Agree," Mills said, pointing at the body. "She was definitely posed like that, our guy wanted us to find her just like that. I also think he dressed her in the dress. My guess is, he hit her on the head from behind with the hammer to incapacitate her while she was sitting on the piano stool over there. There are a few smudges of blood on the piano and the stool and some cast off spatter on the wall back there."

Gail nodded, "Do we know anything about the kid?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's Ingrid McManus." Mills said.

"No shit," Gail said, "Isn't she the kid who's mother reported her missing like a week ago?"

Charlotte nodded, "One and the same. Her mother sent her out to pick up some dinner from a store down the road from their house and she never came back."

Both detectives turned their attention on Holly as she approached them, pulling off her gloves. "What can you tell us doc?" Mills asked.

"Well, not much quite yet but our victim is female, between fourteen and sixteen years old by the looks of things. Her cause of death appears to be exsanguination from the abdominal stab wound but she also has significant blunt trauma to the right side of her temporal area, wouldn't surprise me if we find an underlying extradural or subdural haematoma when we crack the skull. What's pretty interesting is the way the blood pooled around the stab wound, shows me she was already lying on her back when it happened. I'm thinking the blow to the head happened first to incapacitate her and the stabbing came later once she was already on the ground." Holly said.

Charlotte nodded thoughtfully. "Any signs of sexual assault?" She asked.

"Difficult to tell here, but the bite marks and the dress being pulled up are definitely suggestive. I'll be able to tell you more once we get her back to the lab and take a closer look." Holly said.

"Any idea about time since death?" Gail asked, eyeing the maggoty meat one of the lab techs was putting into an evidence bag.

Holly followed her gaze, "Definitely much sooner than that meat was left out for that's for sure. Based on body temperature, ambient temperature, Livor and Rigor I'd say somewhere between 12 and 18 hours. By the looks of things that meat has been out for a good few days."

Charlotte nodded again, "Thanks Doc, you mind giving us a call when you open her up, I think we should be there."

Holly gave them both a nod and a smile before turning to accompany the body back to the lab.

"Right, so lets see if we've got this straight," Mills said as she looked around the room once more. "Young kid goes missing 6 days ago on her way home from picking up some steak fro dinner from the local supermarket. Mother is frantic, calls the cops who scour the neighbourhood but find nothing. Kid was last seen by the grocer at around 18h00 last Thursday and somehow manages to vanish without a trace on her walk back home and no one sees anything. Today we get an anonymous call claiming there is a dead body in this church. Turns out to be the missing kid and her dinner, except the dinner is rotten like its been out for days but the kid is far more fresh." Mills runs her hand through her hair and blows out a breath.

"This tells us the perp hung onto her for a few days. But why keep the kid and leave the meat out to rot?" Mills said almost to herself, hashing it out in her mind. "And why use two weapons, he already hit her in the head once, why get a knife to finish the job? And there isn't even a toolbox anywhere in sight, which means he either brought just the hammer or he took the box with him. But again, if there was a tool box why take it away again but leave the hammer?"

"Why dress her up and pose the body like he did?" Gail voiced from beside her. "Another question is why he chose this place, why go to so much effort to get all this furniture into an abandoned building just to use it as body dump site. I can't see any evidence here that suggests the girl was kept her for any amount of time while she was alive."

Both woman stood in silence for a while watching the techs as they dusted for prints and collected fibres and any other trace evidence they thought was relevant. "We seem to have a whole lot of questions and no answers just yet." Mills said, frustrated.

A deep scowl had taken up residence on Gail's face as she turned toward the piano once more. Something was bothering her about this crime scene. There was something scratching at the base of her subconscious mind but the more she tried to reach for it the further it seemed to slip away. She grunted in annoyance and shook her head.

Gail checked her phone as it pinged in her pocket. "Holly just got back to the lab, if we want to catch the autopsy we should probably head back. She likes to be prompt. Lets hope she can help us figure out answers to s few of these questions." Gail said as they made there way to the door.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys! It's been absolute years since I last updated and I'm so sorry but the life of a surgical registrar is rough these days and a free minute is not very common. Not to worry though, even though it may take me a while I will finish this, have a very clear view of where this is all heading. As always, your follows, favourites and reviews are what make this all worth it and I love hearing from you all. So read, favourite and review, but most of all, please enjoy,

Chapter 11

I

Gail strode into the morgue with Mills close on her heels. Both women breezed passed Tony with little more than a grunted hello, not even noticing how the guard lent over the table to get a better look at Mills' butt.

Holly looked up from the body and smiled her patented lop sided smile at Gail as the two detectives walked in. "Hey," she greeted Gail, her smile widening. "Just in time." She said. She nodded hello to Mills as the women congregated around the pale, still body of the murdered teenage girl in front of them.

"Found anything interesting?" Gail asked, grimacing as her gaze came to rest on the stab wound in the girl's abdomen, nothing more than an innocuous two centimetre slit in her skin now that the blood had been washed away.

"Yes, and no," Holly answered, pushing her glasses up her nose with her wrist. "We've been over the body with a fine tooth comb and found almost nothing. No fibres, no hair, or other trace evidence of note. Except, and this is a big except. We got some saliva off of the bite marks on her thighs, Suzzie is busy working on a DNA profile as we speak. She'll let me know as soon as something comes up."

"Well that's good news, lets hope this perp is already in one of our databases. That will make our lives a lot easier." Mills said with a nod.

Holly didn't seem too convinced. "I'm not so sure we will find anything, this guy was meticulous. The clothes, the way he dressed her, how clean the body was. I get the distinct impression whoever did this knows a thing or two about forensics. I would be extremely surprised if we do get a hit off of his DNA profile. I think the only reason he left it on the body was because he knew we would be chasing a dead end. Almost like he is taunting us." She said softly. "But there is a silver lining, when we find a suspect we'll have a profile to compare it to. We can also use dental impressions and compare them to the bite marks on the victim, two solid pieces of evidence."

Gail and Charlotte stood off to the side in grim silence while they watched Holly complete the autopsy. The blonde frowned, this case gave her a bad feeling, and if Holly was right, this wasn't their run of the mill perp. She had a feeling this was not the last they would hear from him and it made her uneasy. Something about the crime scene had her subconscious on alert but the more she reached for it the further it slipped away from her. It was the epitome of frustration.

The autopsy yielded only what Holly already suspected, there were signs of a significant epidural brain bleed that would most definitely have incapacitated her and would probably have killed her had the knife not severed part of her abdominal aorta and vena cava, causing her to bleed out in mere minutes.

The detectives were about to head back to fifteen to check in with the officers who they had left canvassing the neighbourhood around the church but Gail lingered. Charlotte raised her brow questioningly, waiting for Gail at the door.

"Give me a minute," Gail said. Her eyes flickering quickly to Holly as she washed up. Mills dipped her head and left without a word.

Gail moved in behind Holly as she dried her hands. Pushing her nose into her brunette pony tail. Her arms wrapping around the pathologist's waist. Having her close had the desired effect, her mind began to settle and her body relaxed as Holly's hands came to rest on hers. Her thumbs brushing gently patterns over her hands.

"Hey," Holly said softly.

"Hey yourself," Gail whispered back.

"You okay?" The doctor asked, and edge of worry entering her voice.

"Better now." Gail mumbled into the brunette's hair. She sighed, "There is just something about this case that's bugging me and I can't quite put my finger on it."

Holly turned in her cop's arms. She looked deep into those tempestuous blues for a minute. "Try not to dwell on it too much, it will come when your mind is ready to let it in." Holly said as she moved a piece of blonde hair behind Gail's ear.

Gail leant in and kissed Holly lightly before pulling away, "I better go, Mills is probably pacing outside the car."

"Mmm," Holly hummed, pulling Gail back into her by the lapels of her jacket for one more quick kiss. "Okay, now you can go." She winked at Gail who gave her a chuckle and a wave as she walked towards the door.

II

Two days had gone by and Gail's frustration levels had just increased. They had no leads, no witnesses and no DNA match. Holly had been spot on about their killer, they hadn't found him in any database they had access to. Their intensive canvassing in the neighbourhood surrounding the church had turned up nothing. If anyone had seen anything, they weren't talking to the police, which wasn't unusual for neighbourhoods like this one.

Gail was currently sitting behind her desk, her feet resting on the corner of it as she threw scrunched up paper balls into a trash can she'd placed against the far wall. She sighed when yet another ball bounced off the rim and hit the ground.

She turned when Chris cleared his throat from behind her. "Hey," He said quietly, not wanting to poke the bear. Gail's temper had been shorter than usual over the last few days and he was the bearer of more bad news. "I got the final report from forensics a minute ago, they went through that church with a fine tooth comb and the only thing they found was the victim's blood and her fingerprints on the piano. Nothing that could point us to a potential suspect."

The blonde's head dropped back onto the back of her chair. "Great," she grumbled as she dropped her feet down to the ground.

Instead of shouting or putting him down like she normally did Gail just looked up at him dejectedly. Chris stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry Gail, we'll get him. Eventually." He said, sounding far more confident than the detective felt. Chris was half way out the door when he turned abruptly, "Hey, um… I just wanted to remind you, it's Dov's birthday tomorrow and we are all going to the Penny after work, you know, throw him a little birthday bash. You should be there, bring Holly. You guys don't come out with us enough. We don't see a lot of you these days." He said. Fidgeting when he realised that he basically admitted that he missed her.

A slight smile crossed Gail's lips, she had in fact not forgotten about Dov's birthday and had also gotten him a gift she knew he would like more than a month ago. Not that she was going to tell Chris any of this. Instead she rolled her eyes in his direction before answering. "We'll be there. But tell the geek that if he brings out the trivia cards I'm out."

Chris grinned at her, "Great." He said. "Oh, um, would you mind asking Mills if she's free. She hasn't really been welcomed into the fold yet and she always says no when I ask her to come out for drinks. I don't think she likes me very much." Chris said a little dejectedly.

Gail chuckled, "Don't take it personally Diaz, I don't think she likes anyone very much but I'll ask." She said. "I'll see you around."

III

Gail had gotten board with the paper balls and had now moved on to making paper planes, which was how her partner found her when she walked in.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow as she sat down at her desk across from the blonde. "Seriously, you have nothing better to do than make planes that don't even fly."

Gail looked offended, "Of course they fly," she scoffed.

"Flipping upside down and falling from the sky is not considered flying," Mills said as she threw one of the planes to prove her point.

Gail was about to say something else when a flash of blonde hair on the other side of the squad room caught her attentions. "Hey Mills, you expecting a visitor? " Gail asked.

"What?" Mills asked, turning to see who Gail was talking about.

"Your Doctor Delicious is making her way over." The blonde said, tilting her head to the left, clearly chuffed with the nickname she had come up with.

If Mills hadn't been so surprised by the impromptu visit Gail would probably have gotten a slap around her ears.

Gail watched as Sam Grayson reached Charlotte's desk, it was only then that she noticed the green eyed boy in tow behind her. He looked to be about ten and had a mop of dark hair that flopped over his eyes, the cow lick on the top of his head making it stand up at a strange angle. Gail saw the boy grin when Charlotte almost automatically reached out to smooth the unruly bit of hair on the top of his head and it made her smile.

"Charlie, I'm so sorry!" Sam started in a rushed breath, "There is some or other crisis at the hospital and I got called in early. Haley is sick, Candice is studying for some midterm and Mrs Jankovic next door was out. I didn't want to leave him at home alone, I didn't know where else to go…" She trailed off as she looked lovingly at the boy. He definitely had his mothers eyes, Gail thought as an inquisitive gaze fell onto her. He gave her a small wave, which the blonde returned easily.

"We got this Sam," Gail said, looking up from the boy's face. Charlotte frowned sceptically at Gail, who just rolled her eyes at her. "Seriously, when I was a rookie, Traci's Kid, Leo, practically lived at my desk. I have mad skills. It's a good thing I'm such a selfless friend otherwise she would owe me thousands for child care." The blonde shrugged.

Sam looked over at Charlotte hopefully, the brunette watched Gail for a few more beats before nodding her head without a word. The blonde doctor stepped into Charlotte's space and planted a wet kiss on her cheek before ruffling her son's hair. "Be good, listen to your mother and Gail. And don't get under anyones feet okay?" Sam said, watching the boy nod before bending to give him the same treatment she'd just given Charlotte.

"Euwww mom!" the boy protested, pushing his mother away playfully. Sam chuckled and ruffled his hair again.

"Be good," She said as she hurried back out the way she came with a wave.

Gail knelt down so she was at eye level with the boy, "Hi, I'm Gail." She said, stretching out her hand toward him for him to shake, which he did without hesitation. "I'm Charlotte's partner."

The boy nodded, "I know who you are, Charlie talks about you at home. She likes you," He stated matter of factly.

Gail raised an eyebrow and looked over at Charlotte who shifted uncomfortably and refused to meet the blonde's eyes.

Gail grinned, "What's not to like," She said, spreading her arms wide.

"She also says you are a pain in the ass." The boy said.

"Language Harrison." Charlotte admonished.

The boy looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry mum," he mumbled.

Gail chuckled, "Can't argue with that kid." She said. "But just so you know, your mum is a bit of a pain in the butt too."

Harrison laughed, "In Vancouver they used to call her the Evil Queen at work."

Gail watched Charlotte grimace from the corner of her eye.

"But can I tell you a secret," the boy stage whispered purposefully so that his mother would hear, "She's just a big old softy deep down. And all those people at her old job were…" He paused and motioned Gail closer before cupping a hand around his mouth and putting it close to her ear. "Big fat asses" he finished off quietly.

"It seems your mum and I are both royalty then, around here they call me the ice queen." Gail said a little dramatically.

Harrison looked up at her skeptically, "Do you have a pet snowman called Olaf?"

Gail looked at the boy in total confusion and Charlotte began to laugh.

"What?" the boy asked indignantly, "Everybody knows that the best part of being the ice queen is the pet snowman."

IV

"Shit," Gail swore under her breath as they pulled up into the black penny's parking lot, all her friends cars were already in the lot. They were late, very late. And she totally blamed Holly and her hot, oh so hot bum. How was any human being in her right mind supposed to not reach out and touch it when said bum was clad in a pair of the tightest black boy shorts she'd ever seen and sticking up in the air as its owner dug around in her shoe closet. One thing led to another and just out the shower Holly smelt so good that Gail just couldn't help herself, thus they were late. Very, very late.

Holly looked over at her girlfriend as she locked the car and grinned at her mischievously. Gail caught the look and laughed, "It's almost as if you planned this Stewart."

Holly shrugged knowingly, which made Gail laugh harder. The brunette snuck her arm into the crock of Gail's elbow and pulled her closer as they walked to the door.

The festivities were well underway by the time the blonde and her Doctor arrived. They slipped in almost unnoticed and would have made it all the way to the bar if it hadn't been for Traci who had cleared her throat loudly when she spotted her friend.

"So nice of you to join us," She said, smirking knowingly at Gail, causing the blonde's already flushed cheeks to redden even more.

Gail said nothing, she just raised her eyebrows and pointed at Holly in explanation, who at least had the decency to look sheepish.

Traci burst into laughter and grabbed Holly by the arm. "I think I should buy you a drink."

Now that Traci had absconded with her girlfriend Gail decided that it was the perfect time to find Dov and hand over his present. She had found it online while browsing through a catalog she had found open on Holly's laptop. The minute she saw the light sabres she knew it would be the perfect thing for Dov. She'd even bought two so that he and Chris could entertain themselves, and her of course. She grinned to herself as she thought about the mountain of blackmail video material she'd have of them by the end of the weekend.

By the time she found Dov he was already well on his way to being very drunk.

"Gail," he whooped enthusiastically when he spotted her. "You made it!" He said as he wrapped her in a sloppy hug.

"Dov, what have I said about touching me." She said stiffly as her roommate backed away slightly.

"Sorry," He mumbled in apology.

"S'okay," Gail said, "You can make it up to me by buying me a drink."

She held out the carefully wrapped package to Dov, it even had matching star wars paper to go with the gift inside.

Dov's eyes lit up as he took the package from her reverently. He carefully started to lift the tape that held the paper in place so as not to tear it. Gail just rolled her eyes as she watched drunken Dov trying to be careful. Trying being the operative word here. When he got down to the box and saw what it contained he couldn't help himself anymore and started ripping everything open. He placed it on the table and looked inside like a little kid at christmas. Slowly he reached out a hand to touch the box's contents.

Dov looked up at Gail and for a moment she thought he may burst into tears but before she could say a word he was beaming from ear to ear and had once agin invaded her personal space and wrapped his arms tightly around her in an almost death grip.

"Best. Birthday. Present. Ever." He said, accentuating every word with a shake. By the time he was done hugging her Gail felt a bit seasick.

"Now you owe me two drinks," Gail said as she freed herself from her friend's grip.

Beer now firmly in hand she turned to survey the rest of the bar. Her eyes stopped when she spotted her partner at a table in the far corner. Chloe was sitting next to her and seemed to be prattling away, unaware of the death stares that Charlotte was sending her way. Gail chuckled to herself as she started heading towards her irate looking partner.

The blonde smiled at her partner as she took the seat opposite her. She waited a beat or two but when it was obvious that Chloe had no intention of even taking a breath she interrupted her diatribe, "Chloe, Dov is looking for you. He said something about pants and the roof." She said.

Chloe looked a little confused but excused herself to go in search of her boyfriend.

Charlotte let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God, one more minute and I may have strangled her with my bare hands."

Gail shrugged in acknowledgement as both women settled into a companionable silence and sipped their drinks while they people watched.

Gail looked over at Holly, who had somehow managed to find Sam in the crowd. She smiled as she watched the two laughing at something Dov had said. Her gaze drifted over to her partner then, she had her eyes fixed on Sam and a look of absolute contentment on her face. Gail knew the feeling, she felt it every time she looked at Holly.

"So the kid huh," Gail said. Purposefully leaving the statement open ended. She kept her gaze focused on Sam and Holly as they set themselves up at a table, ready to play the trivia game Gail had expressly forbid Dov from bringing along. She rolled her eyes and waited for a response from her partner. Minutes passed and Gail waited. She sat and sipped her beer languidly and waited. And just when she was about to give up Charlotte spoke.

"Yeah, the kid." She said softly. She began to swill the bourdon in her glass before she let out a sigh. "I found her," Charlotte started, so softly that Gail had to lean in closer to hear her above the din. "I found her when she was seventeen. Three days before her birthday." She smiled almost sardonically.

"It was the middle of winter and one of the coldest I've ever known. I'd just come off a shift and I was making my way home. There was a storm rolling in and I probably shouldn't have been driving at all. The snow was swirling around and the frozen rain was hammering my car from all sides. Something made me look to my left as I crossed the Granville Street bridge. Just for a second I caught sight of something red up near the railing. I still don't know what made me stop." Charlotte said as she sipped her drink slowly.

"I caught her half way over the railing, pregnant belly and all." She shook her head and staring into the amber liquid in her glass as it slipped along the sides as she twirled her wrist.

Gail was silent, hardly moving as her partner spoke again.

"Her mother threw her out when she found out she was pregnant," Charlotte's face darkened as she spoke. She shock her head, "Sam had been living in her car for six months. Six months and no one knew. She went to school, kept up her straight A grades, applied to University, all from the back seat of a beat up little VW beetle."

Charlotte took another fortifying sip of her bourdon before she continued. "The day I found her on the bridge was the day she'd heard she'd gotten into Premed at the University of British Colombia. I think it just hit home for her then, she was about to be a homeless single mother with no solid income. How was she supposed to have a life, go to school, follow her life long dream to become a doctor and still provide for her child. I think she was just helplessly overwhelmed at that moment and she did something stupid. She got up onto the ledge of a bridge in the swirling, freezing cold rain…" Charlotte paused, she seemed to struggle for a while. "I don't even remember what I said to get her off that bridge, it's just one big blur. I just remember how blue her lips were when I got her into the car, how her teeth wouldn't stop chattering the whole way to the hospital and how cold her fingers were in my hands."

Gail hung on every word that fell from her partners mouth, too afraid that if she asked something it would break the spell and she would stop talking.

"I stayed with her that night, until I knew she and the baby would be fine. I returned the day after and took her to a house for unwed young mothers with no place to go. I had to call in almost every favour I had to get her in, it seems there are far more destitute than there are places to help them."

Mills looked up and found Sam's gaze on her, as if she'd know what she was telling Gail. She smiled warmly at her as their eyes held across the room.

"She came to my division once the boy was born, to thank me for saving them," She smiled then as she remembered. "She told me after, that it was that day, as I held Harrison for the first time, his pudgy little hands reaching up for my face, that she'd known I was the one. That she would marry me one day."

For the first time since she started telling her story she looked at Gail who had forgotten her beer and had been watching Mills intently. "And the rest, as they say is history." Mills said, draining her glass of the dregs of bourdon that still swirled in the bottom.

Gail fined disinterest when she saw Mills looking at her expectantly. "So you moved out her when she got placed at Toronto Gen?" the blonde said.

Mills nodded.

"Ah man," Gail said, "And here I thought you'd be exciting Mills, turns out you are all boring and domestic. No skeletons in your closet at all." Gail looked grumpy.

Mills chuckled, "Well how about I buy you another drink to make up for my boring domesticity?"

Gail laughed, "Well that's a start." She said as she and Mills made their way back to the bar and in the general direction of their friends.

Gail was half way through the first sip of her new cold beer when her phone started to ring. She had abandoned her first beer on the table where she and Mills had been siting, as much as she loathed wasting beer, warm beer was definitely a no go. She rolled her eyes and pulled the offending object from her pants pocket before snapping at whoever was on the other end. "Yeah," she grumbled.

Gail was quite for a long time as she listened to whoever was on the other end. She looked over at Mills and her face hardened. Charlotte knew immediately that something was wrong and started looking around to find Sam and Holly in the crowd.

She spotted Sam talking to Chris and Andy a short distance away just as Gail got off the phone, "We've got another body out in Mount Dennis. We have to go, apparently there is something Hinky at the scene." The blonde said. She looked around for Holly and saw her heading towards her and Mills. She had their jackets hanging over her arm, she was called as well it seemed.

Charlotte spoke to Sam quickly as they made their way out to the parking lot, she would go to the scene with Gail and Holly so that Sam would have the car to get home.

V

The three pulled up outside an old apartment building that had definitely seen better days. Gail eyed the officers from 17 division that were lingering around outside. She and Mills flashed their badges as they got nearer, receiving nothing more than a curt nod from the nearest officer. With Holly close behind, the two detectives entered the front of the building and followed their silent Guide up two rickety flights of stairs into a dingy second floor apartment at the end of the hall. The only window that Gail could see in the front room looked straight out into the wall of the building next door.

The place was in shambles. Not like it had been turned over but more like its occupant wasn't big on cleaning. Ever. There were clothes everywhere, covering almost every surface. There were ringed coffee stains covering the top of the coffee table and empty take out containers strewn underneath it. Gail wrinkled her nose as the smell of the unkempt apartment permeated her nasal passages. She toed an empty bottle of cheap vodka and watched it role across the stained carpet and collide with another just like it.

Gail had seen enough here, she wanted to get to the body and see what they were dealing with. Holly had already headed straight for the bathroom the minute they had entered the apartment, leaving Gail and Charlotte behind to try and get a feel for their victim. The woman was a twenty eight year old prostitute with multiple arrests for solicitation and minor drug charges. Her downstairs neighbour and their land lord had discovered her body earlier today when the neighbour had complained about a water leak coming through her ceiling. They had found her in the bath, her hair had clogged up the drain, causing the water running from the open tap to overflow out the bath and eventually leak through the floor to the apartment below.

The detectives picked through the dirt in the general direction of the back of the apartment. Gail could hear Holly giving orders to her scene techs as the approached the bathroom door. She was surprised by the size of the room they walked into. Not the pokey space she was expecting but rather a wide expanse covered in gaudy seventies style tiles. She could see the body of Ruby Wilson half in the tub half out, her feet poking out over the side.

Gail peered over Holly's shoulder as she knelt down to get a liver temp from their victim. the woman was on her back, her red her washed out behind her and into the plug hole. The body didn't look right, the way she was positioned, her legs stuck straight out over the edge. Gail voiced her thoughts at this as Holly stood.

"She was definitely moved, well after she had died." Holly said. "Look at her legs, she was somewhere where she'd been lying on her back long enough for rigor to set in before she was moved. The rigor hasn't passed yet, which is why her legs are poking out like that."

Gail nodded in understanding. "Its almost as if someone put her in the tub and turned the water on to her face to try and wake her." The blonde said. Gail frowned and shock her head, there was that feeling again, nagging at her, as if there was something she was missing.

Gail looked at Ruby more closely, tilting her head to the side as she did. Charlotte saw the look on her partner's face. "What is it Gail?" She asked.

"Her clothes," Gail trailed off, bending down to get a better look. "It's almost like they are from a different era. Just like the kid in the church."

Gail stood up straight and decided a closer look at the room was required. Something near the sink caught her eye. It took her brain a while to register what she was looking at but when it hit her she sucked in a surprised breath, causing Charlotte to move quickly toward where her partner now stood, rooted to the spot. In front of them, placed on the counter near the sink was a small doll, about 15 cm in size. The doll was female, blonde and had on a little white dress with a red belt around its middle. Protruding from the doll's abdomen was what looked like a knife, there was even a small blood pool on the doll's dress where the tiny knife was lodged.

"What the Hell!" Charlotte muttered under her breath as she lent forward to get a closer look. The doll was an almost exact replica of the girl they had found in the church.

"Shit," Gail muttered, "I'm such an idiot, I knew it looked familiar. These are dioramas of death."

Both Holly and Charlotte looked at her as if she were crazy.

"When I was a kid, I think I was about twelve or thirteen at the time, my mother was invited to a law enforcement conference in Baltimore. I was supposed to be away at camp but they had a lice issue or something like that and we all got sent home early. There was nowhere else for me to go, my father was out of the country and Steve had just started at the academy so she took me with her. While they were in lectures I would wonder around the building. We were at the Maryland medical examiners office, it's where they keep Frances Glessner Lee's Dioramas of death. They are from like 1912 or something but they are so amazing that they still use them for teaching purposes. I spent hours looking at them while my mother was busy." Gail said.

Holly nodded then. "She's considered by some as the mother of forensics. She donated a lot of her money to Harvard's department of legal medicine. She was a pioneer of crime scene investigation. I've never seen them myself but I saw a few pictures of some of the scenes when I was in medical school." She said.

Gail relief at putting two and two together was short lived, she turned to Holly and Charlotte. "We've got a problem on our hands. There are eighteen dioramas." She said softly.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey everyone… I know, I know, it's been years since my last update and I apologise profusely. Life got in the way, what can I say. But it's finally here, YAY! So as always, read, review and most importantly enjoy. I love hearing from you guys so feel free to let me know what you think of this chapter.

**Chapter 12**

**I**

Mills lent against the edge of the desk and watched Gail as she paced in front of the boards containing all the evidence they had connected to the two diorama deaths. Frankly speaking, they had nothing. No leads, no witnesses, Nada. Mills could feel the frustration rolling off of her partner as she wore a hole in the carpet.

Mills folded her arms across her chest and cleared her throat to get Gail's attention.

The blonde turned toward her partner but didn't stop pacing. "What?" she hissed.

Mills said nothing, just raised an eyebrow and shrugged. They had just had a division meeting with the brass to discuss the progress that had been made around investigating the two deaths Gail and Charlotte had on their desks. The meeting was part of why Gail was now pacing around like a wild animal. The higher up's wanted results and had questioned Oliver's choice of putting Gail and Mills on as lead detectives.

He had stood his ground and the thought made Gail's pacing slow and brought a slight smile to her face. She would get this bastard. She would get him if it was the last thing she did.

They had spent the entire morning before the meeting going over every scrap of information they had. Gail had gotten hold of a few photos of the dioramas and had them stuck up on a separate board. It was scary how similar the death scenes were to the real thing they had found in the church and the apartment up in Mount Dennis. Someone knew what they were doing, and the possibility of sixteen more possible murders was weighing heavily on Gail's mind.

Mills turned when she heard the door click open to catch sight of Holly sticking her head into the room. It was only then that Charlotte looked at her watch, it was late, and she needed to get home to Sam. She needed to recharge, take a breath, and ground herself. She didn't wear it on her sleeve like Gail did, but that didn't mean she didn't feel it just as bad. She could tell these cases were getting to her too.

Gail was so busy scrutinising the pictures on the board that she hadn't heard Holly come in. Mills nodded to Holly as she picked up her jacket and silently let herself out, leaving the doctor and her partner to their own devices.

Holly watched Gail for a while as she poured over the pictures. She could see the tight lines running through her girlfriends shoulders and back a she stood in front of the large boards with her hands on her hips. This case had wedeled its way into Gail's head and had started to bleed into their day-to-day lives. Gail hadn't been sleeping well and had been distant over the last week. It was starting to worry Holly. She needed to distract her girlfriend, get her to unwind a little.

"Hey," Holly finally spoke up, causing Gail to turn in surprise. The brunette grinned at the confused look on her girlfriend's face as she spotted Holly where Charlotte had been sitting not so long ago.

"Hey," Gail said in return, walking over to Holly and coming to a stop between her thighs. She reached up and swept some of her girl's hair away behind her ear and cupped her cheek in her hand. The doctor's eyes fluttered shut at Gail's gentle touch on her cheek. Holly's hands automatically came up and slipped around the cop's hips, deftly avoiding the gun on her belt on the right.

"Hmm," Holly hummed as she leant into Gail. "You ready to go?" She asked as her head came to rest in the crock of Gail's neck.

"More than," Gail whispered and kissed Holly's forehead.

As they walked out to their parked cars hand in hand, Holly decided now was a good a time as any, she'd been meaning to ask Gail something all week but kept putting it off.

Once they reached her car she turned and leant against the drivers door and waited for Gail's full attention. "So," she started tentatively, "my best friends from med school are going to be in town from Thursday for a conference. We are having dinner on Friday night and I'd really love it if you would join us?"

Gail wrinkled her nose and looked away from her girlfriend's searching gaze. She got the distinct feeling that this was an important thing for Holly. The war inside her head over whether to go or not to go was short lived. She would do anything that Holly asked of her, but she wasn't quite ready for Holly to have that titbit of information so she stalled, avoiding her gaze, pretending to ponder the question.

"So what you are saying is that I'll be stuck with three nerds all night instead of just one?" Gail said matter of factly, fighting to keep the grin off her face.

Holly's worried frown turned into a smile as she playfully smacked Gail on the arm. "Oh shut up." She laughed, pulling the blonde in for a kiss.

As the playfulness of the moment faded Holly saw the uncertainty in those ice blue eyes she could get lost in forever. She knew what was going on in Gail's head without her even having to say a word. She pulled her closer and forced eye contact again.

"They will love you, don't even worry about that." Holly said, making sure the blonde was really listening to her.

Gail shifted uncomfortably. Holly gave her a minute, waiting for her to voice what she wanted to get out there.

"How can you know that?" Gail asked as she held Holly's gaze.

Holly smiled, "that's easy," she said. "Because I love you." She leant in then and kissed Gail, she kissed her like it was the only thing in the world she ever wanted to do. They got lost in each other there in the parking lot, leaning against Holly's SUV. Not even the wolf whistle from Oliver broke them apart.

**II**

Holly watched as Gail fiddled nervously with her hair, trying to get a stray piece of fringe to lie perfectly. She had also watched her change her outfit three times already as well.

Gail was nervous. She was starting to think that agreeing to go out with Holly and her friends tonight might have been the worst thing she could ever have agreed to. She frowned at her reflection in the mirror as she picked up her mascara to touch up her lashes again.

Holly chuckled as she watched the small manifestations of panic in Gail and moved in behind her as she sat at the vanity and placed her hands on the cop's shoulders. "It's going to be fine," She said in a low voice as she soothingly massaged Gail shoulders. "You look beautiful." She added as she leant down and brushed her lips over the blonde's ear causing her to shiver. Holly watched in the mirror as Gail's pupils immediately dilated. Her hand made its way down Gail's neck and into the front of her shirt, Her fingers finding their way under the bra beneath them to play across an already hardening nipple.

Gail groaned, she could feel her arousal grow and begin to pool between her thighs. If Holly didn't stop they would be late and she probably already had to change her underwear. "Nerd," Gail growled softly as Holly's lips trailed down her neck causing the blonde to automatically lean back into her and tilt her head so her girlfriend had better access.

"Hmm," Holly hummed, not bothering to lift her lips from where she was now sucking on a spot she knew turned Gail to putty in her hands. The blonde shivered again as Holly's hand now cupped her breast and squeezed.

Gail wasn't sure how she managed it but her hand shot up and took hold of Holly's wrist as she looked her in the eye, "Late," she panted. She watched the war in those brown eyes, she could tell that Holly wanted her and it made Gail smirk at the thought that she was about to blow off her friends who she barely saw and only had one night free to make love to her.

Gail turned and stood, the decision made. She cupped Holly's face in her hands, "Come one, let's go. We can save all this for later." She said, placing a quick kiss on those plump, now pouting lips before heading to the bathroom.

"I thought we were going?" Holly called behind her.

"We are," Gail said as she paused at the dresser that now contained mostly her clothes, "But thanks to you I need to change my underwear first."

Gail didn't miss the prideful smirk on Holly's face as she turned to head into the bathroom.

**III**

Gail's nerves started to rear their ugly head once more as they neared the Penny. Holly had picked the place hoping that familiar surroundings would put her cop at ease. She knew how big it was for Gail to even have agreed to this dinner. She gave the blonde's thigh a reassuring squeeze and watched her white knuckled hands release the steering wheel slightly at the gesture.

Their walk from the car was quite; Gail clung to Holly's hand like it was a lifeline. Only letting go to open the door to the Penny and allowing Holly to lead the way. The brunette spotted Lisa and Rachel easily; they stood out like a sore thumb in their designer outfits.

Holly smiled when her friends both jumped up when they saw her approaching. Before she could get a word out she was enveloped by two sets of arms and pulled in close. Rachel and Lisa held onto her for what was probably a full five minutes while Gail stood to the side and watched the scene uncomfortably.

"You look great Hols," Rachel said, rubbing her hands up and down Holly's arms. "Toronto must agree with you," She grinned, her eyes flicking toward Gail for the first time. Rachel chuckled knowingly as Holly's cheeks coloured when her eyes fell on Gail who looked extremely uncomfortable with her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans.

Holly cleared her throat, finding her voice she held out her hand to Gail who tentatively took it and stepped forward. "Guys, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Gail." A wide smile spread across Holly's face as Gail gave an awkward half wave and smiled at her two friends.

Holly and her friends fell into easy conversation and were soon laughing and joking as if they had never been apart. Gail watched Holly and smiled, she loved seeing her this happy, for the first time since they had arrived the blonde felt at ease. She relaxed and slid her hand onto Holly's thigh, squeezing gently. Holly's hand fell immediately onto Gail's, her eye's flicking over to the deep blues that were watching her intently. Holly squeezed the hand on her thigh and grinned at her girl before turning back to the conversation she'd been deeply involved in.

The interaction didn't go unnoticed by Rachel, who had smirked when she saw the interaction between the blonde and her friend. She also noticed that Gail had relaxed a bit since she'd come in and decided it was time to get the blonde involved in the conversation. With her focus now firmly on the cop, Rachel spoke, "So Gail, we've heard all about your amazing blue eyes and beautiful face but Holly has managed to omit exactly what it is that you do. All we know is that you work together, so spill. Fellow pathologist? Special Scientist of some kind?"

Gail chuckled, even under Holly's olive skin she saw the blush creeping up her neck at her friend's mention of her rave about her girlfriend's beauty. "Oh I'm not a squint." Gail said bumping her shoulder into Holly's playfully. When she focused back on Rachel and Lisa she saw the confusion on their faces. She threw a thumb toward Holly, "This one definitely out nerds me at every turn. I'm a cop actually, we met at a crime scene."

Gail was so busy watching Holly recover from her blush that she missed the look of disdain that crossed Lisa's face. Rachel laughed, "Holly always did have a bit of a thing for women in uniform." She winked at Holly across the table causing the blush that had just begun to settle to flare again.

Gail grinned, "Oh, this sounds like something I need to hear," she said leaning conspiratorially toward Rachel as she downed the last sip of her Martini. "But first, I think we all need refills." The blonde stood and made her way over to the bar, ordering three more Martini's and a beer for herself.

Holly looked across the table at her friends; she was glad that Gail seemed to be settling in with them. She gave Rachel's arm a squeeze and mouthed thank you over the table at her. "Well she is just as hot as you said she was." Rachel shrugged and grinned mischievously, "Is she amazing in the sack too?" Holly laughed and slapped at Rachel's arm.

"Well other than her obvious outer beauty and her claimed prowess in the bed room she doesn't seem to have much else to offer you." Lisa said coolly.

"Lees." Holly warned softly.

None of the woman had noticed Gail's return; she stood just within ear shot of the group. She felt a bit guilty eaves dropping on the group but she wasn't quite sure now was a good time to re-join the circle.

"What?" Lisa continued, "She's a cop Holly. Nothing but blue collar, she has nothing to offer you. You are so much better than that."

Holly sighed, she was no stranger to Lisa's elitist attitude, it was the one part of the woman that she just didn't agree with or understand.

"I here Laura Bradford is in town these days. Now she's a catch, and she has always had a thing for you." Lisa continued.

Holly knew this had the potential to turn into a full blown fight if she didn't stop it now, she needed to diffuse the situation so she made a quick decision, one she would regret in mere seconds.

"Relax Lisa, it's nothing serious, I'm just having a little bit of fun. We are all just having a little easy fun." Holly said, unaware that Gail had heard every word she'd said.

It took measly milliseconds for the hurt generated by Holly's words to hit Gail square in the chest. Holly was joking right? She had to be, of course she was. Holly loved her. But of course, Gail being Gail meant that that terrible little voice at the back of her mind spread doubt through her like a plague. What if she wasn't?

Holly chose that moment to turn startled as she saw Gail standing nearby. The smile slid immediately from her face as she watched the change in her girlfriend happen in front of her eyes. She watched the walls go up, watched as her eyes turned to stone, watched as her jaw clenched. "Gail," she said softly, reaching out to her. The blonde side stepped her hand lithely.

The hurt in Gail's chest had quickly turned to anger as she focused her eyes on the Gucci clad plastic surgeon in front of her who was now inspecting her perfectly manicured nails. Her blood began to boil. She couldn't stay here anymore, she needed to leave and quickly. Before she said something she shouldn't. She put down the martini's she was carrying on the small table with more force than she had originally intended, spilling some of the contents from one of the glasses onto Lisa's tiny skirt causing her to curse. Gail half smiled, "My bad." She said, rather unapologetically.

Gail turned to go but turned back to Lisa at the last minute while she tried to rub at the liquid on her skirt. "Oh and Lena, Canadian Business, top one hundred richest, number sixty seven." Gail tapped the table with her hand, "Can't say it's been fun." Gail said as she turned and walked away.

She took a deep breath as she got outside into the cool air. Her chest stung and it wasn't because of the air. "Well Shit." She grumbled under her breath. She'd let Holly's words and that horrible woman get to her. She hoped that her last remark had gone unnoticed by the woman around the table as she got into her SUV and decided she needed to go home.

Holly was rooted to the spot as she watched the retreating form of her girlfriend's back. What the hell just happened? It was Rachel's hand on her arm that brought her back to the present. She looked into her friend's eyes as she softly spoke her name.

"I think you should go after her," Rachel said, giving Holly a small push.

"What the hell for, that little bitch spilled alcohol all over me and she didn't even get my name right. Frankly Holly, I think you should cut your losses. I'll give Laura a call right now, see if she's keen to come out with us." Lisa said, pulling out her phone.

"Oh, shut up Lisa." Rachel said, "Go now Hols, or you'll miss her."

Holly's limbs finally began to move as she rushed for the door. She yanked it open and stepped out just in time to see the tail lights of Gail's SUV turning right out of the parking lot.

"Fuck," She swore, pulling out her phone and calling the blonde. Her call rolled to voicemail immediately. She tried again but got the same result. Gail had turned away from the direction of Holly's apartment, which was not a good sign. "Double Fuck," Holly swore again, something completely out of character for the brunette. She sighed and made her way back inside to get her jacket, she needed to figure out how to make this right.

Holly made her way back to the table and picked up her bag and jacket. She apologised hastily and promised Rachel she would make it up to her, Lisa was so busy on her phone that she didn't even seem to be listening to Holly. The brunette rolled her eyes and turned to leave, but before she could take a step Lisa was at her side.

"Holly," She said with a frown creasing her forehead, "what's Gail's last name?"

Holly sighed; she didn't have time for this. "It's Peck. Gail Peck." She said, humouring her friend for some reason. She could never stay mad at Lisa for very long and this time it was as much her doing as Lisa's, she'd screwed up. She knew that Gail had commitment issues and a fragile self-esteem when it came to love and she'd basically kicked her in the teeth. Again she made a move to leave but was stopped by Lisa's hand on her arm.

"Oh My God," Lisa said, her eyes still glued to the screen of her smart phone. Holly was starting to get irritated and was about to yank her arm away when Lisa shoved the phone in her face. Holly stared at the small screen, not knowing what she was even looking at. "Number sixty seven," Lisa hissed.

Holly straightened her glasses and looked closer. There, on the screen was Gail's family name with a dollar sign and several figures following it, ten figures to be exact. Holly frowned.

"Holy shit Hols," Lisa laughed, "your girl is loaded."

**IV**

Gail was back home well before nine. The air that previously had been thick with water vapour had gone from threatening to rain to producing a few large drops that sporadically hit the pavement around Gail as she got out of her car. By the time she made it to the front gate it had started to pour. She took the front steps two at a time and slammed the front door closed in her wake without even noticing. Chris and Dov sat deathly still as they watched the blonde stomp into the kitchen and yank open the fridge. Chris turned to Dov and raised a brow, "Should we ask?" He said.

Dov vehemently shook his head, "Definitely not." He said as he unpaused the Hockey game they had been watching, hoping to watch the rest of the game in relative peace.

Gail retracted herself from the fridge, beer now in hand and planted herself in the middle of the couch between her two boys and put her feet up on the coffee table in front of them.

Dov gave her an annoyed look, "at least have the decency to take your boots off before putting your feet up on the table. We don't know where those things have been." He said, eying the blonde sceptically.

Gail grumbled but automatically started undoing her laces before abandoning the boots unceremoniously under the table. She wasn't in the mood to get into an altercation with Dov tonight as well. Just as she was settling back into the couch her phone started to ring again. She pulled it out of her pocket only to see Holly's annoyingly beautiful face staring up at her from the screen. She killed the call and tossed the phone onto the table, not missing the notifications before doing so. She had seven missed calls and three messages, all from Holly. When she thought about what just happened at the Penny she still felt a bit sick so she decided the best way to deal with any of it right now was to flat out ignore it.

The calm in the house lasted for about half an hour before a staccato knock was heard from the front door. Seconds later Holly's muffled voice could be heard calling out to Gail. After the third unanswered knock Dov once again paused the game and looked pointedly at Gail, "I think that's for you." He deadpanned, refusing to look away from Gail or restart the game until she finally sighed and got to her feet.

Gail took her time walking to the door before pulling it open roughly. There, in front of her was Holly, her back toward the blonde, halfway down the stairs moving away from her into the pouring rain.

Holly stopped and turned when she heard the door open, she looked up at Gail from the third step, looking very forlorn in her soaking wet clothes and rain streaked glasses. She hesitated for a second before issuing a soft, "Hey."

'Hey yourself," Gail said back, crossing her arms across her chest as she watched Holly begin to fidget.

The brunette stood there in the pouring rain trying to decide where to start. She'd had her whole apology planned out during the ride over but now that she was standing there, under the stark blue gaze she seemed to be lost for words. Before she knew it she'd begun to stutter and then ramble, words fell from her mouth so fast she wasn't even sure if any of it was making any sense.

Gail looked down at the doctor as she stood there in the rain trying desperately to tell her how sorry she was. The droplets had begun to collect and mist on her glasses due to her body heat radiating around them. Gail doubted she could even see out of them anymore.

On impulse she moved forward and took Holly's face between her hands to stop the word vomit erupting from her beautiful, now slightly blue lips. "Why are you saying all these words," she said softly and leant in, silencing her with a kiss. Slowly, she pulled. "You just… You just had to stop talking." She said, looking into blurry chocolate brown eyes through the waterlogged spectacles.

"I won't say another word." Holly whispered as the two stood there on Gail's front steps in the driving rain staring at each other. Holly closed the distance between them once more, reaching out for Gail's waist and pulling her closer by the now soaking wet t-shirt she found there. She kissed her soundly, trying to convey how sorry she was with every movement of her lips.

Holly shivered when they came up for air, she felt like the cold rain had somehow gotten under her skin but she refused to move in case it broke the spell and Gail pulled away from her once more. So instead they continued to stand in the bucketing rain, foreheads pressed together, nose to nose, breathing the same damp air.

Their moment was finally interrupted by Dov, who had pulled the curtain back and stuck his head out the window. "Kissing in the rain is very romantic and all, but I can assure you, pneumonia is not." He said before abruptly retracting his head and disappearing.

Gail rolled her eyes and smiled. She reached out and took Holly's icy hand. "You are freezing," she said, worry pooling in her eyes. "Do you want to come inside?" She asked, "I think we should talk."

Holly nodded her agreement as another shiver overtook her. She allowed the blonde to lead her back up the stair and into the house. This was her chance to fix this and she wasn't going to screw this up.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I

Gail's eyelids flickered open as the stream of sunlight danced across her lashes. She looked straight into a mop of messy brunette hair and smiled. She pulled Holly closer with the arm that had been resting over her girlfriend's side. Holly hummed softly in her sleep and closed her hand around Gail's forearm. The smile on Gail's face widened as she buried her nose in the dark locks at the nape of her girl's neck and breathed her in.

They had talked. For hours they talked. About anything and everything and for once in her life Gail had actually opened up. It had taken a while and there had been a few false starts but by the end of the night, they both knew exactly where they stood with each other and that made Gail smile again. She nuzzled Holly's neck and thought about how she had apologised over thirty times, she had counted.

She looked over at the clock that sat on her bedside table, it was still early. Far too early to be awake. Gail's stomach rumbled, explaining why she was awake at all. The blonde had almost forgotten that she hadn't had any dinner the night before. Her stomach growled angrily again. That would have to be remedied before it woke Holly.

Slowly she started to extricate herself from the brunette's grip, sticking pillows into the void where her body had been. She grabbed her jeans that had been lying in a crumpled heap on the floor near the bed and pulled them on. She glanced at Holly as she stole her sweater that was now thankfully dry and slipped it over her head as she tiptoed out of the bedroom in her socks.

Gail was trying to decide between the bodega on the corner or the patisserie two blocks down when a brown paper bag on the kitchen shelf caught her eye. That hadn't been there the night before. If there was something edible in there it could save her a trip. She peered into the bags and smiled when she found breakfast ingredients. The princess was probably still fast asleep in Dov's bed and anything left out in the open was fair game in her opinion.

She started pulling ingredients out of the bag. She found eggs, English muffins, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. She pulled a face and pushed the tomatoes as far away from herself as possible. Everything pointed toward eggs benedict, which suited her just fine. Eggs benedict happened to be one of Gail's favourites.

Not many people knew that the blonde was actually a pretty mean cook. She'd learnt during her travels through France and Italy in the year between high school and starting at college. She'd worked in several restaurants to pay her way through Europe as she had been too young to have access to her trust fund back then and there was no way Elaine was going to help her out, she'd made that abundantly clear. Even though it had been hard work it was still a year that Gail considered one of the best times in her life.

If Gail knew anything about Chloe it was that she always came prepared so when she opened the fridge and found the ready made hollandaise sauce standing right next to the bacon her smile widened. She set to work poaching the eggs and getting the bacon on to fry. She popped the English muffins into the toaster just before the eggs were done. She layered the bacon on top of the muffins and spooned the perfectly poached eggs on top, covering both dishes in a generous dollop of hollandaise and finished everything off with a few snips of fresh chives.

Gail had her head stuck into the depths of one of the cupboards looking for a tray for their coffee and breakfast when she heard a sharp intake of breath and an exasperated "Gail!" come form somewhere behind her.

"What?" She questioned innocently as she clambered to her feet, tray in hand to find an irritated Chloe standing behind her with her arms crossed over her chest.

Gail sighed, "Relax princess," she said. "There is more than enough left over there for you and captain trivia to help yourselves."

Chloe just shook her head and took a closer look at the plates that Gail had prepared. "Whoa," putting a hand on Gail's arm, "You made these?" Chloe asked, astonishment in her voice as she took in the perfect little tower on the plates before her. "That looks amazing Gail, I didn't know you could cook."

Gail narrowed her eyes at the perky little redhead in front of her. "One, don't touch me." She said. "Two, if anyone finds out about this I'll have to kill you." She maneuvered her way around the pesky woman and hightailed it back to her room.

She pushed the door open carefully with her foot and placed the tray and its contents down on the small desk near the window before crawling back onto the bed and positioning herself in behind Holly. Slowly, she began to run her fingers up and down the brunette's arm, tracing patterns as she went. She brought her lips up and pressed feather light kisses to Holly's shoulder, dragging her lips slowly up the curve of her neck all the way to her ear. The soft moan that escaped Holly's lips did nothing but spur Gail on. She slipped her hand under the hem of the doctor's tight tank top and started to stroke the smooth skin of her stomach.

Holly smiled and turned toward Gail's body, her eyes still closed as she nuzzled into her girlfriend's neck. "Hi," she whispered as she pressed her lips onto the blonde's pulse point, feeling the steady rhythm beneath them speed up almost immediately.

"Hey," Gail said smiling down at Holly as her beautiful chocolate eyes opened and focused on her face.

"Hmm," Holly sighed, "Is that coffee I smell."

"That and so much more," Gail said before rolling over to reach for the tray.

Holly sat up, folding her long legs to sit cross-legged on the bed while Gail placed the tray between them. She stared at the spread between them, "This is amazing Gail, it looks delicious." She, like Gail, had had no dinner the night before and what was laid out in front of her was making her mouth water.

"Well I don't know about you nerd but I'm starving, dig in." Gail said as she sliced into her egg and shovelled a forkful of food into her mouth.

Holly moaned as she took her first bite, causing Gail's eyes to flicker up from her food and fix on Holly's face. "This is amazing." The brunette said as she slipped another forkful past her lips. They finished their breakfast in near silence, savouring every last morsel before relaxing back onto the pillows to drink their coffee.

Gail stole a peek at Holly while she sipped on her coffee, she could get used to this. She'd never felt it before. She felt like this was what she could do every morning for the rest of her life and she would be happy. Who would have thought, Gail Peck was actually happy.

Holly looked down at her watch, time had slipped by unnoticed while she and Gail had been in there little bubble of domestic bliss and as much as she didn't want to leave, the beginning of their work day was fast approaching and she needed to get home to change. She leant over and kissed Gail on the cheek. Letting her lips linger near her ear, "Thanks for breakfast," she murmured before kissing her again, on the lips this time as the blonde turned toward her.

Holly knew if she didn't get up now she would be tempted to stay in bed with Gail all day. She sighed as she threw back the covers and gathered up the plates and cups and placed them back on the tray, lifting the lot and carrying it toward the door. She smiled at Gail over her shoulder as her hand rested on the doorknob, "If you plan on keeping my sweater detective I'm going to be stealing one of yours when I get back from the kitchen."

Gail laughed, "I thought you'd never be caught dead in my clothes?"

Holly shrugged, "Maybe just this once." She said, pulling open the door. The brunette froze when she came face to face with a startled Elaine Peck, her hand still raised as if ready to knock.

A flush crept up Holly's neck as the older woman's eyes skimmed over her. Her eyebrow rising in what she suspected was disapproval of the pathologist's current state of attire, or lack there of.

Lowering the tray slightly Holly attempted to cover a little more of her underwear as she stood there in shock feeling far too exposed. "Superintendent." She managed after clearing her throat. "We weren't expecting you."

Elaine had managed to regain a semblance of her steely façade while Holly shifted nervously from foot to foot. Her eyebrows shot up at Holly's words as if to say 'well obviously not'.

By this time Gail had practically fallen out of bed, pulled her jeans back on and steered Holly past her mother while pushing a pair of sweat pants into her free hand.

The brunette took that as a sign to run for it and scampered away with a shy smile to dump the tray in the kitchen and pull on the pants now draped over her arm.

"Mother," Gail said icily. "To what do we owe this little impromptu visit."

Elaine gave her daughter a withering look, "Well if you bothered to answer any of my calls I wouldn't have to track you down this way Gail." She pulled an imaginary piece of lint from the sleeve of her blazer as Gail crossed her arms across her chest and leant against the door.

"I came to make sure that you and Ms Stewart hadn't forgotten about dinner tomorrow evening." Elaine said.

Holly, who had been creeping back toward Gail froze instantly and looked over at the blonde who hadn't uttered a word about any family dinner. Gail's eyes drifted from her mother and gave Holly the most apologetic look she could muster.

Elaine saw her daughter's gaze stray over her left shoulder and turned to where she suspected Holly was standing. "By the look on your face I assume you knew nothing of this invitation Ms Stewart."

Holly faltered for a mere split second before she found her voice, "Gail asked me weeks ago superintendent, I was just surprised that its tomorrow, for some reason I thought it was next week."

Elaine's stare lingered on her for a moment longer as if trying to gage if she was lying before turning back to Gail who quickly mouthed a silent thank you to her girlfriend.

"I will expect you both at 18:30 sharp tomorrow evening." Elaine said before turning sharply on her heals and heading breezily out the front door without another word.

Gail scowled at the closed door. "How did she even get in?" she grumbled.

As if to answer her question Dov stuck his head out his bedroom door. "Has she gone?" he asked.

Gail sent him a death stare.

"What was I supposed to do Gail? Tell her to go away?" He stammered.

"Yes!" Gail hissed. Grabbing Holly by the hand and dragging her back into her bedroom as she slammed the door shut behind them.

The blonde looked into her girlfriend's face, "I'm so sorry Hols. I totally blocked out family dinner. You seriously don't have to come." Her gaze dropped down to her feet.

Holly reached out and stilled Gail's hands that had begun to fidget with the end of her shirt. She waited for her to look up into her eyes again. "It's okay Gail," She said. Slowly drawing circles on the back of her hand with her thumb. "I don't have to come if you don't feel comfortable with me being there yet."

Gail began to shake her head vehemently no. She sighed, "It's not that Hols. My family…" She trailed off. "My mother." She couldn't seem to get the words out. Her gaze dropped down to her feet once more. Gail was silent for a long moment while Holly stood patiently in front of her continuing to stroke her hand comfortingly.

"I'm not good enough for them Hol." She said softly. "I know its stupid but I don't want you to see them look at me like that." She sighed once more. "You are the best thing that's ever happened to me." The blonde shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, "You are so out of my league it's ridiculous. I wonder every day what someone as great as you is doing with me. I just… I just don't want you to look at me like they do."

"Oh honey," Holly whispered, her heart breaking in two. "The way I see it, I'm the one who lucked out with you." She kissed her soundly, tangling her hands up in her hair and pouring every tiny bit of the love she felt into that one kiss. The pathologist pulled away just enough so she could speak, her lips still brushing Gail's as the words came out. "If you let me stick around, I don't think I'm ever going to let you go." She whispered before pulling her right back up against her lips.

II

Gail blew out a long sigh as she stood at the foot of her childhood home's driveway looking up at the house. She knew there was no way out of this family dinner, but that didn't make being here any easier.

Holly stood silently at her girlfriend's side taking in the grandeur before her. After the disastrous meet up with her so called friends she knew that Gail came from money but at the time she had been too distracted by Gail running out on her to pay attention to the page that Lisa had been waving under her nose. She slipped her hand into Gail's and squeezed reassuringly.

The touch seemed to calm the blonde; she squared up her shoulders and started up the drive as if she were on a mission. Holly matching her step by step.

The door opened before they even reached the top step and they were greeted by Steve's infectious grin as he pushed a glass with a generous helping of scotch into each of their hands. "I thought you might need a bit of liquid courage." He said.

Gail rolled her eyes at her brother but downed the alcohol in one swig all the same, letting the liquid burn down her throat before handing the empty glass back to him and punching him on his deltoid. "Let's do this," she said, making a beeline for her father's study.

"Down the hatch doc," Steve said, motioning toward the still full drink in Holly's hand, "You are going to need it!"

"If you can't beat them, join them right?" she said, raising her glass to Steve before downing its contents in one gulp.

Steve grinned at her as he took the empty from her hand, "Come on, I bet Gail is raiding dad's liquor cabinet as we speak." He turned and led the brunette through the magnificent foyer that could probably fit Holly's entire apartment and down a wide hallway to the left.

Sure enough, Gail had her head stuck inside a large antique cabinet as they walked in; she extracted herself and a half full bottle of whiskey with a bit of a flourish. "Now this is what I'm talking about!" she said holding it out for Holly to inspect.

The pathologist whistled through her teeth, she was more of a bourdon girl herself but she knew a little something about whiskey and the bottle that Gail had in her hand cost enough to feed a small country for a week.

"This is seriously the only good thing in this house so we better make the most of it." She said, pouring out three glasses and adding a single, perfectly formed ice cube to each glass. She raised her glass and looked over at Holly, "to making it out alive," Gail toasted, clinking her glass against her girlfriend's and brother's before taking a sip. She hummed in appreciation. This time she savoured the taste as the booze slid over her tongue, smooth as silk.

A chuckle from the doorway caught their attention. "She always was fairly dramatic," The man said as he approached the three.

Holly took him in; he was tall with broad shoulders and a mop of unruly thick grey hair. His eyes blue but not nearly as harsh as Gail or Elaine's. Other than the pale skin and red hair that he had obviously inherited from his mother, this was the cloth from which Steve had been cut. Holly smiled at the man who could only be Gail's father as his attention settled on her. He scrutinised her for a moment but it wasn't nearly as intense or as uncomfortable as the once over she'd received from Elaine the first time they had met.

"Bill Peck," the man said, stretching out his hand toward the doctor.

Holly took it and shook his hand, "Holly Stewart," She replied, still a slight smile on her face.

"Well it's lovely to meet you dear." He said, "You must be very special, It's not often our Gail brings anyone home with her. Come to think of it, the last time you had anyone to family dinner it was that Neil boy in high school."

"Nick," Gail correct, rolling her eyes at her father.

"Eye rolling is not an appropriate way of expressing one's displeasure Abigail." Elaine's voice wafted into the room from the doorway.

Steve walked over to his mother and kissed her cheek, hugging her from behind. "Yes Abigail," He said over his mother's shoulder with the most over exaggerated eye roll he could muster.

Gail pursed her lips in an attempt to keep a straight face but when Elaine did nothing but raise an eyebrow as if to say 'I'm Waiting', she sighed. "Yes mother," She grumbled, fighting every fibre in her being to not roll her eyes at the infuriating woman.

Elaine's eye's burned into Gail's for a second longer before the found their way to the doctor at her daughter's side. "Holly dear, how lovely to see you again." She said.

Holly couldn't tell from her tone if the woman was being forthright of just down right facetious but she smiled at her warmly none the less. "Thank you for inviting me into your lovely home superintendent." Holly said graciously.

"Please call me Elaine dear, superintendent is so formal away from work." She said, motioning for Holly to follow her. "I have a feeling your taste may be more refined than that of my daughter's, may I offer you a glass of wine? I just received a fabulous shipment of the finest Cabernet Franc available."

Gail raised her eyebrows and looked over at Steve who gave a shrug as if to say 'damned if I know' as they both silently trailed along behind Holly and Elaine who were now deep in conversation about the taste profiles of cabernet franc from Tuscany as opposed to those from the Loire Valley.

Dinner seemed to go by without much drama. With Elaine's attention almost solely focused on Holly, Gail had managed to stay under the radar by being very quite and not making any sudden movements. Holly's depth and breadth of knowledge amazed the blonde and she often found herself staring at the brunette as she spoke of varied topics with her mother. The nerves that had plagued Holly earlier had all but retreated. Gail smiled and squeezed the thigh her hand rested on under the table, causing Holly to turn toward her and smile one of her amazing crooked little smiles at her. Even here, in the childhood home where happiness was a foreign concept before, Gail was happy. This amazing woman made her happy as she looked at her like she was her whole world.

The interaction, although fleeting, did not go unnoticed by Elaine who once again turned her attention to her daughter as dessert was served. "So,Gail." She began, fixing her piercing blue eyes on the blonde who had stiffened immediately at the mention of her name. "There was a package delivered to your desk this week that I thought you may find useful."

She knew better than pretending she hadn't received the book her mother had sent. "Yes mother," she said, trying to avoid direct eye contact. "It came through on Wednesday."

"Lovely," Elaine said, sipping on the coffee she preferred to the after dinner sweets. "It's time to start thinking of your future, you've spent more than enough time faffing and now that you have finally made detective taking the sergeants exam is the next logical step."

Holly frowned, Gail had only just made detective, and although she wasn't the youngest cop to every make it, she definitely wasn't over the hill at 28.

Steve had seen his sister stiffen at their mother's words. "Gail's only been a detective for the last three months mother, maybe she just needs a little more time to settle in and get a few solves under her belt." He said, "Besides, I waited over a year before branching out into tactical training."

Elaine scoffed, "Nonsense, the girl spent enough time floundering around as a beat cop before she finally got her act together. She can't afford to waste any more time. Pecks are bred for leadership. It's time she stopped playing around and stepped up to her responsibilities. I have tolerated her being at the bottom of the pile for long enough, she is finally showing some aptitude for advancement and by damned she will pursue it." The cold edge to Elaine's voice made it quite clear that there was no room for an opposing opinion.

Although Gail was quite used to being spoken about as if she weren't even in the room, the look on Holly's face betrayed her underlying shock, which quickly turned to anger as Elaine spoke again.

"If only she was as driven as you Steven, or Holly here. Could you imagine where she could be by now if she just had a little ambition." Elaine sniffed and looked down her nose at her only daughter who by now was looking anywhere but at her mother.

Holly's hand came crashing down onto the table as she stood, making the crockery rattle from the force. "Enough," she said, her anger boiling into her voice. She fixed her gaze onto Elaine, her face as hard as Gail had ever seen it. "I don't understand you people." She said, pointing at Gail. "Your daughter is one of the most amazing, smart, funny and driven people that I've ever met. And I just don't understand how you can't see it."

Holly turned toward the blonde, her face and tone softening, "She's absolutely fantastic and I love her for exactly who she is."

Elaine opened her mouth with a scathing retort on the tip of her tongue but before she could utter a word, Gail's mobile began to ring, followed mere seconds later by Holly's as well.

"Peck," Gail sighed in relief for the interruption. She feared that if the current dinner conversation had continued it might soon have come to blows and her mother knew how to fight dirty. She listened for a moment and immediately looked over to Holly who was now frowning. Their eye's met and Holly gave the detective a small nod to confirm her suspicions.

"Well." Gail said as she hung up the phone. "Saved by the body. Mother, as always, it's been swell." Gail walked out with Holly not even half a step behind her.

III

Gail seemed to relax more and more with every mile they put between themselves and her parents house. They drove in silence for several moments before Holly reached over for Gail's free hand and pulled it over into her lap. She waited for Gail to look over at her when they stopped at a set of traffic lights before she spoke.

"I'm sorry to have to say this Gail but your mother is despicable." Holly said softly.

Gail chuckled and shrugged, "tell me something I didn't already know."

"Even so, I probably shouldn't have lost my temper with her the way I did. I could probably have handled that a bit better than I did." She sighed, "I'm sorry."

They pulled to a stop behind the crime scene van that was already parked out the front of the address Gail had taken over the phone earlier.

"Hey," She said, waiting for Holly to look up and meet her eyes. "You never have to apologise for standing up for me. Especially if you happen to be rude to my mother in the process." She grinned widely, "And besides, that's probably the first time in a long time I've seen her at a bit of a loss for words and to be honest, I rather liked it. Did you see the look on her face? I thought she might actually explode."

"Now that would be the day." Holly muttered and immediately clamped her hands over her mouth.

Gail snorted, "Definitely." She put her finger under Holly's chin, lifting it until their eyes met. "Forget about her, its time for us to go be rock stars and solve a crime. Gail jumped out of the SUV and ran around to Holly's door, yanking it open with a flourish and shouting, "Onward!" holding a hand out for Holly to take.

Several officers and other emergency service personal looked at the blonde as if she'd just escaped from a psychiatric institution but one scathing look from Gail had them cowering in her wake.

They found Mc Nally standing near the front door of the dingy looking building waiting for them.

"Hey Gail, Holly." She said with a nod, "Crime scene is up on the 5th floor, apartment 5C. I'd take the stairs if I were you, the elevator smells like pee."

Gail wrinkled her nose and headed toward the narrow, wonky looking stairwell. Andy saw the sceptical look on her face when she put her foot on the first step and it gave an almighty squeak.

"You'll be fine," Mc Nally reassured, Murray from forensics has been up and down there twice already and it's still standing."

That reassured Gail somewhat as she was sure he still had about fifty kilograms of pure muscle weight on Gail and Holly put together.

"Body's in the closet," Mc Nally shouted up the stairs as they set off.

"Awesome," Gail grumbled as the started up the stairs, "I hate exercise."

Holly chuckled and slapped her girlfriend on the bum, "Lets pick up the pace her slow poke."

Gail scowled. "Do that again and you may lose that hand," she said playfully.

"Empty threat," Holly said, slapping Gail's butt once more for emphasis. "You would miss this hand very, very much," she said. Wiggling her eyebrows and making Gail laugh.

"Yeah, yeah." She chuckled, "Cocky much?"

They rounded the corner and almost walked straight into Mills who had stepped out of an apartment just ahead of them.

"Howdy partner," Gail said. "What have we got?"

Mills gave her a look; one that said this wasn't good.

"Shit," Gail said, putting a hand on her hip over her gun. "We got another one don't we?"

Mills sighed and nodded. "Victim's a known prostitute, Marie Jones, this is her place."

Gail stopped dead in her tracks; "You're kidding me right? Marie Jones?"

"Yup," Mills popped the P. "We've got the red bedroom." She said, referring to one of the dioramas. "Throat slit, head on a cardboard box. Hell, even the red coat hanging next to the body in the closet. Was waiting for you before I did a proper walk through."

"This guy, whoever he is, is going to an incredible amount of trouble to fit his scenes with the dioramas. I mean, the detail is astonishing, right down to the name of the victims being the same." Gail said as she toed the whiskey bottles next to the table in the one roomed little flat that had seen better days.

Gail crossed to the open closet door where Holly was squatting near the body doing a quick external examination and taking pictures before the techs came to take the body back to the morgue. "Anything interesting?" she asked hopefully.

Holly sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her gloved hand and shook her head. "All I can tell you is that she has been here between 34 and 42 hours based on the ambient temperature in the room."

Gail nodded, a bit deflated, she was hoping against hope that their killer had finally made some kind of mistake, just something to give them some kind of lead. Dejectedly she turned away and began to scope out the rest of the room. Mills had started on the far end where the chairs and overturned bottles were but it was something near the bed that caught the young detective's attention.

She cocked her head to the side curiously as she stared at the bedside table. The lamp was on and strangely enough the overhead lights were out. She frowned, turning on all the lights would have been the first responders first move. She walked over to the light switch and flipped it to on but nothing happened. She looked up to the fitting, the bulb was still in its housing.

Gail grabbed a rickety looking wooden chair she found near the wall, placed it under the fitting and hopped up to get a closer look. She gave the bulb a little twist and lo and behold, there was light. She was about to jump down and return to the bedside table when she saw it. "Son of a bitch!" Gail hissed under her breath. There, in the dust, was a partial print. It definitely wasn't hers as she had her blue, latex free gloves on.

"Mills," Gail called excitedly as she leapt off the stool. The brunette caught on to her partner's excitement and was by her side in three strides.

"What have you got Peck?" Rebecca asked the animated blonde.

Gail pointed up at the light, "get up there and have a look." She said.

Mills frowned but got up onto the stool none the less to take a closer look at the bulb. "Holy shit!" She said.

They had something here, or at least they hoped they did. With Gail's luck the print probably belonged to the handyman, or the victim herself, but hey, she could hope.

While Mills took a closer look at the print and set about chasing the crime scene techs to collect the entire bulb Gail was drawn back to the bedside table and the miniature tableau set up under the lamp that had first caught her eye. There, as she had expected, she found a tiny tub and little doll posed exactly how they had found their previous victim, Margret Wilson.

A frown crept onto Gail's face as she tilted her head and examined the pint-sized scene before her. There, near the miniature tub were 4 little red berries, perfectly aligned in the middle of the bedside table. She bent closer for a better look. "Holly," She muttered, as her frown deepened. She was quite for what felt like a long time.

Her eyes widened and all the colour drained from her already pale face. "Jesus!" The expletive fell from her lips. "Four Holly. For Holly…"


End file.
